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PORTRAIT OF CORTES 

FROM AN ENGRAVING BY TERDIN SELMA AFTER THE PAINTING BY TITIAN 



Fernando Cortes 

AND THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO 

148^-1547 



BY 

FRANCIS AUGUSTUS MacNUTT 

Translator AND Editor of the " Letters of Cortes," Author of 

" Bartholomew de Las Casas, His Life, His Apostolate, and 

His Writings " 



G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 

TLbc Ikntcfeerboclier press 

1909 



Copyright, 1909 

BY 

FRANCIS A. MacNUTT 



248586 




Ube IRnicftetbochcc press, Hew JBorft 



KENELM VAUGHAN 

IN MEMORY OF OUR MANY HAPPY DAYS TOGETHER IN OLD AND 
NEW SPAIN, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTION- 
ATELY DEDICATED 



PREFACE 

SPAIN held the dominant place amongst 
European states in the first half of the 
sixteenth century, and she was prolific in great 
men, who governed at home or extended her 
power abroad. Among the latter, Fernando 
Cortes was easily the greatest, and the story 
of his life is a chronicle of deeds of heroism 
and sheer daring, to which history offers few 
parallels. In the work of overturning the mili- 
tary and religious despotism of Montezumaj 
some terrible deeds were done. Similar acts 
of severity and cruelty, however, blot the fame 
of great leaders in most wars, ancient and 
modern. 

Some of the material used in the following 
brief story of the conqueror's life has already 
appeared in the biographical note to the Letters 
of Cortes, the favourable reception of which by 
students of American history, has encouraged me 
to prepare the present work in a more popular 
form. 

I have essayed to portray the personal char- 
acter of Cortes, as well as the events in which 
he played the hero's part, and I have sought 
to present to the consideration of my readers 
the psychological, racial, and material influences 
that made the man what he was: the circum- 



vi Preface 

stances that developed his latent powers, the 
motives that directed his actions, and the means 
he used to achieve his ends. In so doing, I am 
not aware of having glossed over or condoned 
either the regrettable flaws in his private 
morals, or the several acts of duplicity and ex- 
cessive cruelty which so seriously detract from 
the admiration his great achievements would 
otherwise unreservedly command. Both his 
methods and his motives were vigorously at- 
tacked by his contemporary adversaries, and 
almost every known crime, from assassination 
to high treason, was imputed to him. Un- 
substantiated and mendacious for the most part, 
the specific accusations of high crimes were, 
and they may be dismissed. They were suc- 
cessfully refuted during his life-time, and the 
permanently beneficent results secured to hu- 
manity by his conquests, remain forever beyond 
the boundaries of the historically debatable. 

Les grands desseins et notables entreprises 
ne se verifient jamais autrement que par le 
succes. The maxim is Cardinal Eichelieu's, 
and its sense was more briefly expressed by 
Napoleon: Je ne juge les Jiommes que par les 
result ats. 

Although the religious influences, prevalent 
in Europe during the Middle Ages, began in the 
sixteenth century to show signs of decline, gov- 
ernments still assumed the guardianship of 
religious unity in the State. Macchiavelli codi- 




CORTES 
FROM THE PORTRAIT IN THE JESUS HOSPITAL IN THE CITY OF MEXICO 



Preface vii 

fied the political ethics of his age and, though 
condemned by the Church and repudiated by 
moralists, his philosophy of crime was adopted 
by statesmen whose personal characters com- 
mand respect. II Principe and the Discorsi 
exhibit the standards by which the conduct of 
public men was governed, and the moral sense 
of sovereigns and their counsellors had become 
so perverted that, while still punishing indi- 
vidual delinquents, they had worked out for their 
own guidance, a complete system of government 
by assassination. 

Fernando Cortes was untainted by the cynical 
paganism of the Italian Renaissance and had 
probably never read a line of Macchiavelli, nor 
had he been trained in his school of political 
ethics, but he was essentially a man of his times. 
Orthodox and absolute as were his religious be- 
liefs, the intermittent character of their in- 
fluence on his moral conduct is but too obvious, 
but, though he failed to live according to the 
precepts of his religion, nobody can doubt that 
he would have died in defence of it. Indifferent 
to obstacles, he faced the dangers and con- 
sequences of undertakings that could have 
courted none save an imperial spirit. His am- 
bition was restrained by a single fetter — his 
loyalty; the unanswerable refutation of the oft- 
repeated accusation that he aspired to inde- 
pendence, is the fact that he did not assume 
the independent sovereignty and royal crown 



viii Preface 

that were his to take in Mexico. There was, 
as yet, no adequate comprehension in Spain of 
the importance of the newly discovered coun- 
try; its extent, its resources, and even its 
whereabouts, were first reported by Cortes him- 
self in his letters to Charles V., whose attention 
was absorbed by pressing affairs in Germany 
and Italy. The long Italian wars that ended 
with the capture of Francis I. at Pavia were 
followed by the campaign against Rome, in 
which His Most Catholic Majesty employed 
Lutheran Lanzknechts to sack the papal capital 
in 1527, while during all this period, the rising 
tide of the Reformation engrossed the Emperor's 
attention to the exclusion of conquests in a 
distant hemisphere, by an unknown soldier of 
fortune. 

Twenty-five years had elapsed since the dis- 
covery of a group of islands in the Western 
ocean had brought disillusion and disappoint- 
ment to Spain ; it was the conquest of Mexico 
by Cortes that first made known the importance 
of the New World and brought America within 
the sphere of European politics. His was the 
original conception of a colonial empire, and 
the plans and proposals for the extension of 
Spanish supremacy, outlined in his letters to the 
Emperor, were worthy of more attention than 
they received. 

After his thinly veiled defiance of Diego 
Velasquez, the sailing of the fleet from Cuba 



Preface ix 

was a leap into the void. Montezuma's em- 
bassy, bearing rich gifts, disclosed the possi- 
bilities of the Hinterland and germinated in 
the brain of Cortes the idea of conquest. One 
revelation was confirmed by another and, as the 
evidences of Aztec wealth multiplied, the proofs 
of internal disaffection throughout the empire 
stimulated the confidence of the brooding con- 
queror. Disloyalty amongst the Totonacs, 
treachery that only awaited an opportunity in 
Texcoco, an ancient tradition of hate in Tlas- 
cala, and the superstition that obscured the 
judgment and paralysed the action of the des- 
potic ruler — these were the materials from 
which the astute invader evolved the machinery 
for his conquest. Starting as the captain of 
a trading expedition sent by the governor of 
Cuba to barter Spanish beads for Indian gold, 
Cortes transformed himself into a military 
commander, self-endowed with the mission of 
extending his sovereign's possessions and of 
converting the heathen. 

He played a dangerous game of diplomacy 
with Montezuma and completely outwitted him, 
tricking and deceiving that unfortunate ruler, 
and finally dethroning him and sending him to 
his death. He kept no faith with Quauhte- 
motzin, but delivered him to torture, and, 
finally, on paltry evidence, he hanged him in a 
remote wilderness; but when the greatest kings 
of Europe were no more bound by the articles 



X '" Preface 

of a signed treaty tlian by the phrases of a 
compliment, and when it was an accepted 
maxim that no agreement hurtful to religion 
or to the State was binding, how shall we con- 
demn this soldier of fortune for conforming to 
the accepted usage of his age? 

Bearing in mind the complete divorce that 
seemed to exist between morals and politics, 
between the private belief and the public con- 
duct of the men who ruled Europe in that cen- 
tury, we may realise the injustice of measuring 
the life and actions of Cortes by other standards 
than those with which he was familiar. 

Despite the casuistry that guided the policy 
of governments, it must not be assumed that 
the higher conscience of Christendom was either 
dormant or voiceless. The Spanish sovereigns 
displayed sincere and unfailing solicitude for 
the spiritual and material welfare of the Ameri- 
can Indians. Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros was 
the first statesman to make the amelioration of 
their condition a matter of government policy, 
and the Flemish counsellors of the young king 
rendered effective many of the provisions of 
the deceased regent. Dominican monks, cap- 
tained by the redoubtable Las Casas, who denied 
the right of the Spaniards to invade American 
territory, or to rule the natives without their 
consent, led a vigorous crusade in defence of 
the individual and collective liberty of the In- 
dians, and in tliis they were sustained by the 



Preface xi 

universities of Salamanca and Alcald. The 
Franciscan community in the city of Mexico 
wrote to Charles V., declaring that it were 
better if never an Indian were converted to 
Christianity, and never a foot of American soil 
were acquired for the Spanish crown, than that 
these results should be accomplished by the in- 
human methods then in operation. Popes, such 
as Adrian VI. and Paul III., condemned the 
systems of slavery established in the new^ colo- 
nies, and an entire hierarchy of bishops and 
priests excommunicated refractory colonists 
who refused to release their illegally held and 
cruelly treated serfs. 

Cortes extended toleration rather than ap- 
proval to the institution of slavery; yielding to 
necessity, he recompensed his followers with 
encomiendas of Indians in the absence of any 
other provision by the crown to requite their 
services, but, in his testament, he records his 
grave doubts of the equity or wisdom of en- 
slaving the Indians and enjoins his son to 
liberate his slaves and to make them full res- 
titution if justice so demands. The relentless 
measures he employed or countenanced to effect 
his conquest, were abandoned when the neces- 
sity for using them ceased. The- conquest 
achieved, the qualities of Cortes as an organiser, 
a legislator, and a ruler were called into play 
and, though the story of the reconstruction 
period may seem tame reading after the drama- 



xii Preface 

tic scenes of the great struggle, liis sagacity, his 
foresight, and his moderation have caused criti- 
cal historians to rank him higher as a statesman 
than as a soldier. In virtue of his pre-eminent 
qualities both as statesman and general, as well 
as because of the enduring importance of his con- 
quest Fernando Cortes occupies an uncontested 
j)lace amongst the heroes of the nations. 



F. A. McN. 



ScHLOss Ratzotz, Tyrol, 
June, 1908. 



CONTENTS 
CHAPTER I PAGE 

TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CONQUEST . . 1 

Family — Early Years — First Voyage — Colonial 
Life — Quarrel with Velasquez — Battle of 
Ceutla — Palm Sunday. 



CHAPTER II 

MONTEZUMA AND HIS EMPIRE . . . . 

The Aztec Empire — Origines — Civilisation — In- 
stitutions — Montezuma — Quetzalcoatl. 



43 ^' 



CHAPTER III 

ALLIES OP THE SPANIARDS ..... 68 

Arrival at San Juan de Ulua — Marina — Em- 
bassies from Montezuma — Founding of Vera 
Cruz — At Cempoalla — Missionary Methods. 

CHAPTER IV 

THE DESTRUCTION OP THE SHIPS . . . 104 

Letters to Charles V. — The Velasquez Faction — 
Destruction of the Ships — The March to Mex- 
ico — The Republic of Tlascala. 

CHAPTER V 

THE SPANISH-TLASCALAN ALLIANCE . . . 127 

The Senate of Tlascala — Spanish Victories — 
Cruel Treatment of Spies — The Alliance — Ef- 
fect on Montezuma — Cortes in Tlascala. 



xiv Contents 

CHAPTER VI PAGE 

THE CHOLULAN CONSPIRACY AND MASSACRE . 155 

Events in Tlascala — The Cholulans — Their 
Treachery — The Massacre — Justification of 
Cortes — Description of Cholula — Popocatapetl. 

CHAPTER VII 

IN THE AZTEC CAPITAL 174 

Approach to Mexico — On the Causeway — Meet- 
ing with Montezuma — Montezuma's Discourse — 
The Marketplace— Temple of Tlatelolco — 
Seizure of Montezuma — Perfidy of Cortes. 

CHAPTER VIII 

MONTEZUMA A PRISONER 204 

Quauhpopoca — Acolhuacan — Vassalage of Mon- 
tezuma — The Great Temple — The Idols Over- 
thrown — Montezuma's Warning — The Arrival 
of a Fleet. 

CHAPTER IX 

CORTES DEFEATS NARVAEZ 223 

Arrival of the Envoys in Spain — Velasquez and 
the Audiencia — Landing of Narvaez — His 
Policy — Negotiations with Narvaez — Cortes 
Leaves Mexico — The Attack — After the Vic- 
tory. 

CHAPTER X 

REVOLT OP MEXICO 243 

Ravages of Smallpox — News of the Revolt — 
Feast of Toxcatl — Alvarado's Folly — Cortes 



Contents xv 

PAGE 

Returns to Mexico — Release of Cuitlahuatzin — 
Intervention of Montezuma — Hard Fighting — 
Decision to Retreat — Death of Montezuma. 

CHAPTER XI 
THE SORROWFUL NIGHT ..... 272 ^ 
Saving the Treasure — The Retreat from Mexico 
— The Survivors — Battle of Otumba — Arrival 
in Tlascala. 

CHAPTER XII 

REINFORCEMENTS AND A NEW CAMPAIGN . . 292 

Montezuma's Successor — Campaigning in Tepe- 
aca — Founding of Segura de la Frontera — 
Reinforcements — Second Letter of Relation — 
Death of Maxixcatzin — The Brigantines — Or- 
dinances — Headquarters at Texcoco. 

CHAPTER XIII 

BACK TO THE CAPITAL 312 

Destruction of Iztapalapan — Quauhtemotzin — 
First Expedition to Chalco — Arrival of the 
Convoy — Fall of Tlacopan — Death of Fon- 
seca — Second Expedition to Chalco — Capture 
of Cuernavaca — Rescue of Cortes — Spanish 
Losses. 

CHAPTER XIV 

THE SIEGE OF THE IMPERIAL CITY . . . 332 

Action of the Audiencia — Conspiracy of Villa- 
faiia — Launching the Brigantines — Division 



xvi Contents 



of the Forces — Fate of Xicotencatl — The 
Aqueduct — The Siege — First Naval Engage- 
ment — First Assault. 

CHAPTER XV 

THE FALL OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE . . • 352 

Progress of the Siege — Aztec Victories — Attack 
on Tlatelolco — The Great Disaster — Sotelo's 
Catapult — Last Days— Quauhtemotzin Cap- 
tured and Tortured — The Victory and the 
Losses — Fruits of Conquest. 



CHAPTER XVI 

RECONSTRUCTION 382 

Position of Cortes — The Great Strait — Rebuild- 
ing Mexico — Cristobal de Tapia, Francisco de 
Garay and Sandoval in Panuco — The Silver 
Cannon — Rebellion of Olid — Expedition to 
Yucatan — Death of Quauhtemotzin — Return to 
Mexico. 



CHAPTER XVII 

CLOSING SCENES TRIUMPHS AND DISAPPOINT- 
MENTS THE DEATH OF CORTES . . 418 

The Home-Coming — Dignities and Privileges — 
Second Marriage — Nuiiez de Guzman — Arrival 
in Vera Cruz — Marquisate of Oaxaca — The 
South Sea — Return to Spain — Voltaire's Le- 
gend — Death of Cortes — Burial of Cortes — 
Funeral in Mexico — Last Resting Place — The 
Palermo Legend. 



Contents xvii 

CHAPTER XVIII PAGE 

THE MAN 440 

Appearance and Habits of Cortes — Comparison 
with Cassar — His Piety — Alleged Cruelty — His 
Morals — Judgment of Slavery — Conclusion. 

INDEX . 463 



ILLUSTEATIONS 

PAGE 

PORTRAIT OF CORTES . . . FrofiUspiece 
From an engraving by Ferdin Selma after the 
painting attributed to Titian. 



CORTES VI 

From the portrait in the Jesus Hospital in the 
city of Mexico. 

DIEGO VELASQUEZ ...... 9 

Facsimile of an engraving in Herrera, vol. i., 
p. 298. 

CORTES^S VOYAGE TO MEXICO .... 28 

Reproduced from Help's Spanish Conquest, 

MEXICO BEFORE THE CONQUEST .... 50 

From Cortes's Letters, published in 1524. 

MEXICAN CALENDAR STONE .... 56 

MONTEZUMA . 60 

From an illustration in Montanius and Ogilby. 

PLAN OF MEXICO TENOCHTITLAN ... 80 

From Conquista de Mexico, by Orozco y Berra. 



XX Illustrations 

* PAGE 

THE FLEET OF CORTES 104 

From de Solis's Conquete du Mexique, vol. i., p. 
44. 

PORTRAIT OF CORTES 146 

From a picture in the Mexican Historical So- 
ciety's Gallery. 

SACRIFICIAL STONE 212 

From Bandelier's Archaeological Tour. 

CHARLES V. — 1519 224 

From an old painting. 

DON PEDRO DE ALVARADO 244 

From Herrera, vol. ii., p. 274. 

PLAN OF MEXICO CITY 348 

From The Conquest of Mexico, by Diaz del 
Castillo. Translated by Maurice Keatinge. 

SANDOVAL 394 

From an engraving in Herrera, vol. ii., p. 32. 

PORTRAIT OF CORTES 420 

From a copper print of 1715. 

CORTES AND HIS ARMS 441 

From Vega's Cortes Valeroso (1588). 



Illustrations xxi 

PAGE 

MAP OF THE SOUTH SEA AND THE GULF OF 

CALIFORNIA 450 

ARMOUR OF CORTES 460 

After an engraving from the original in the 
Museum at Madrid. 

MAP OF MEXICO At End 



FERNANDO CORTES 



FERNANDO CORTES 



CHAPTER I 

TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CONQUEST 

Family — Early Years — First Voyage — Colonial Life — 
Quarrel with Velasquez — Battle of Ceutla — Palm 
Sunday 

FERNANDO CORTES was born in the un- 
important town of Medellin in Estrama- 
dura, in the year 1485. His father, Martin 
Cortes y Monroy, had served as a captain of 
fifty light cavalry, and both he and his wife, 
Catalina Pizarro Altamirano, belonged to fam- 
ilies which ranked among the provincial no- 
bility.^ The efforts of Argensola and other 
ingenious genealogists to trace for Cortes an 
illustrious ancestry, reaching back even to the 
kings of Lombard and Tuscany, are not very 
convincing, nor do they seem important in the 

1 The unknown author of the early chronicle De Rebus 
Gestis thus describes Martin Cortes: "pietate tamen et 
religione toto vitse tempore clarus." And to his wife 
Caterina he pays the tribute : " Caterina namque pudi- 
citia et in conjugem amove nulli setatis suae feminas 
cessit." Las Casas, who was no admirer of the conqueror, 
states that he had known his father who was a cristiano 
viejo and a gentleman, though poor (lib. iii,, cap. xxvii.). 



2 Fernando Cortes 

case of one who rose from obscure, but reputable 
beginnings, without the aid of family influence 
or superior fortune.^ The house in which the 
future conqueror of Mexico was born, stood in 
the Calle de la Feria until it was destroyed 
by the French during the campaign of 1809.2 

The infancy of the man, whose powers of en- 
durance carried him through a life of extra- 
ordinary hardships and ceaseless activity, was 
that of a puling, delicate child, whose parents 
despaired of raising him to manhood. Lots 
were cast to determine which one of the twelve 
apostles should be his patron saint. ^ In this 
manner St. Peter was chosen, and to his patron's 
favour Cortes ascribed the preservation of his 
life on several critical occasions, and the suc- 
cess of his most hazardous undertakings. When 
their son was fourteen years old, his parents 
sent him to the University of Salamanca to 
prepare himself for the practice of law, a pro- 
fession that was held in high esteem, and one 
that opened a promising career to a young man 
of ability. During his two years at the Uni- 
versity, he lodged in the house of his paternal 
aunt, Inez de Paz, who was married to Fran- 
cisco Nuiiez de Varela, a citizen of Salamanca. 
Las Casas affirms that Cortes took his degree 

^Anales de Aragon (1630), pp. 621-625. Caro de 
Torres, Historia de las Ordines Militares (1629) p. 103. 

2 Alaman, Disertaciones, dissert, v. 

3 Alaman, Disertaciones sobre la Histo7'ia de la Republica 
Mexicana, dissert, v. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 3 

as bachelor of laws, and had a good knowledge 
of Latin. ^ Doubtless a youth of his acquisitive 
mind profited greatly by two years of life in 
the University, but he discovered no aptitude 
for the study of law, and but little inclination 
to serious study of any kind. His taste was for 
arms and a life of adventure. He caused his 
parents the liveliest chagrin by abandoning 
the career they had chosen for him, and, on 
his return to Medellin, he further increased 
their anxieties by disorderly living. His ambi- 
tion was to take service under Gonzalvo de 
Cordoba, the great captain amongst the mili- 
tary leaders of the time, but, renouncing this 
plan, he joined the expedition of Don ISTicolas 
de Ovando, the recently appointed governor of 
Hispaniola, who was preparing to sail with an 
important fleet of thirty ships to assume the 
duties of his high office. Cortes was moved to 
this decision by the fact that Ovando was a 
friend of his family, and might be counted upon 
to advance his interests in the colony. 

Almost on the eve of sailing, Cortes fell from 
a wall he was scaling to keep an amorous tryst 
with a lady, and, but for the timely intervention 
of an old woman, whose attention was attracted 
by the noise of his fall almost at her very door, 
this accident might have ended fatally. The 
dame arrived, just in time to prevent her son- 
in-law from running the prostrate youth through 

1 Hist. General, lib. iii., cap. xxvii. 



4 Fernando Cortes 

the body with his sword. ^ As it was, he escaped 
with bruises of sufficient gravity to keep him 
in bed until after Ovando's fleet had sailed. 

Upon his recovery he reverted to his original 
project of enlisting in Italy, and, with that in- 
tention, he set out for Valencia. What defeated 
his purpose is not recorded, but after a year of 
poverty and hardship in Valencia, he returned 
to Medellin where his parents, rendered despe- 
rate by the vagaries of their wayward son, were 
doubtless glad to furnish him the necessary 
money to enable him to follow Ovando to 
Hispaniola. 

He sailed from San Lucar de Barrameda in 
1504, on board the trading vessel of Alonso Quin- 
tero of Palos, bound with four others, laden 
■ with merchandise for the Indies. The little 
fleet followed the usual route by way of the 
Canary Islands, touching first at Gomera. 
Alonso Quintero twice sought to detach himself 
from his felloAV-captains in order to reach port 
ahead of them, and dispose of his cargo at 
greater advantage without their competition. 
Both times he was thwarted by untoward 
weather, and the second time his pilot, Fran- 
cisco Nino, lost his bearings, and the storm- 
tossed ship, short of provisions and water, was 
in imminent peril. On Good Friday, when hope 
seemed vain, a dove was seen to perch in the 

1 De Rebus Gestis Fernandi Cortesi, in Icazbalceta, 
torn. i. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 5 

ship's rigging, and, by following the flight of 
this bird of good omen when it took wing, land 
was sighted by Cristobal Zorro on Easter 
day, and four days later the vessel reached the 
port of Santo Domingo, where the other three 
had long since arrived and disposed of their 
cargoes. 

The appearance of the dove was afterwards 
interpreted by some of the earlier biographers 
of Cortes as a manifestation of the divine 
guidance or as an augury for his future. There 
were even some who at the time thought they 
recognised an apparition of the Holy Ghost. ^ 
Don Nicolas de Ovando was absent from Santo 
Domingo when Cortes arrived, but his secretary, 
Medina, was an old friend of the latter's, and 
gave him hospitality in his house, informing 
him of the conditions of life in the colony, and 
advising him to settle near the town. To 
settle anywhere was no part of his plan, 
and he explained to the friendly secretary that 
he had come to obtain gold, not to till the soil. 
He stayed but a short time in the settlement 
and left in search of the coveted gold, but as 
soon as the governor returned and learned of 
his presence, he sent for him and showed him 
much favour. Shortly afterwards, Cortes took 
part in the subjugation of the provinces of 

1 De Rebus Gestis: "Alius, Sanctum esse Spiritum, 
qui in illius alitis specie, ut masstos et afflictos solaretur, 
venire erat dignatus." 



6 Fernando Cortes 

Higuey, Aniguayagua, and Baoruca, where the 
natives, goaded to desperation by the inhuman 
cruelties practised upon them, had finally risen 
under the Queen Anacoana. Diego Velasquez, 
a native of Cuellar, who had seen seventeen 
years of military service in Spain, was put in 
command of the operations, which were brief 
and successful, since the Indians possessed no 
arms worthy of the name and were by nature 
a timid people, entirely ignorant of warfare.^ 
Cortes received as his share of the spoils, a 
repartimiento of Indians at Daiguao, and was 
appointed notary of the recently founded town 
of Azua. The ensuing five or six years of his 
life were devoid of any salient event, though 
Bernal Diaz del Castillo states that he was 
several times involved in quarrels about women, 
which led to duels, in one of which he received 
a wound in the lip, which left a scar ever 
afterwards.2 He was fortunately prevented by 
an abscess or swelling on his knee, from join- 
ing the disastrous expedition of Alonso de 
Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa to Darien. Don 
Nicolas de Ovando had meanwhile been suc- 
ceeded in office by Diego Columbus, son of the 
Admiral, who, in 1511, fitted out an expedition 
for the conquest of Cuba, which he placed under 
the command of Diego Velasquez, and in which 
Cortes volunteered. This expedition consisted 

1 Gomara, Cronica, cap. iii. 
- Historia Vercladera, cap. civ. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 7 

of three hundred men, but so weak was the 
resistance of the pacific natives, that the con- 
quest of the island was effected almost without 
a struggle. Only one chief in the province of 
Mayci attempted to dispute the landing of the 
invaders, and he was quickly overcome and 
captured. This man, Hatuey by name, was 
sentenced to be burned as a " rebel," and when 
tlie cruel sentence was about to be carried out, 
a Franciscan friar approached him, exhorting 
him to receive baptism and thus ensure his soul 
going to heaven. Tlie chief asked if there would 
be 8x>aniards in heaven, to which the friar an- 
swered that all hoped to go there. The chief 
replied that then he would rather not. They 
burned, but could not convert liim,^ and thus 
ended an inglorious campaign, prompted by 
cupidit}^, conducted with revolting inhumanity, 
and resulting in the speedy extermination of 
the vanquisJied and tlie perpetual dishonour of 
the victors. Tlie conduct of Cortes, during this 
campaign, advanced his interests in every 
respect, for his genial manners and lively con- 
versation made him a favourite among his com- 
panions, while his bravery and address acquired 
him a good reputation as a soldier and won the 
friendship of his commander. Such expeditions 
afforded but scanty opportunity to the men of 
the invading force to display their prowess, for 

1 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, lib. iii., cap. xxv. ; 
Brevissima Relacion, p. 27. 



8 Fernando Cortes 

the several native tribes were subdued, after tlie 
barest semblance of serious military operations. 
Yet such mild warfare and the equally nerve- 
less encounters with the natives in Hispaniola, 
afforded Cortes the only military training he 
ever received. The skill he afterwards displayed 
as a tactician, and his masterly generalship, 
were derived from his latent genius for com- 
mand, which sprang, full-fledged, into con- 
sciousness, in response to the first demand made 
upon it. 

In recognition of his services in Cuba, Cortes 
received an encomienda of Indians at Manicaro 
which he held in partnership with Juan Xuarez. 
He became a citizen of Santiago de Baracoa, 
and was successful, not only in his agricultural 
ventures, but also in his search for gold, in 
which he employed a number of his Indians.^ 
During the first years of the residence of 
Cortes in Cuba, it may be assumed that he 
attended to his interests and enjoyed consider- 
able popularity among his fellow-colonists as 
well as the favour of the Governor, Diego Velas- 
quez, who extended a protecting friendship to 
him, such as an older man of high rank might 
naturally feel for one of the most promising 
young men among his colonists. As the changes 
which the relations between these two men un- 
derwent, were far-reaching in their effects, and 
worked powerfully upon the course of events 
1 Gomara, Cronica, cap. iv. ; De Rebus Gestis. 




£l AcUlraitailo BON Bilbao ^TfLJ^S^^XTES de 
Cu c I In r Ai'iCor d ci de s crTi6 rtni4.£/ix ta 



DIEGO VELASQUEZ 

FACSIMILE OF AN ENGRAVING IN HERRERA, VOL. I., PAGE 298 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 9 

in the ISTew World, it is necessary, before going 
farther, to consider somewhat the character of 
Diego Velasquez, and the causes which brought 
about the breach of their friendship. Velasquez 
was of noble family, and, though arriving in the 
Indies poor, had there accumulated an ample 
fortune. He had the habit of command, which, as 
governor of Cuba, he exercised with the scarcely 
restricted and arbitrary freedom his own tem- 
perament dictated and the usage amongst 
Spanish colonial governors sanctioned. With 
all this he was amiable, accessible, and fond of 
dispensing favours. Prescott estimates him as 
one of these captious persons who " when things 
do not go exactly to their taste, shift the re- 
sponsibility from their shoulders, where it should 
lie, to those of others," and Herrera describes 
him as " ungenerous, credulous, and suspicious ! " 
Fray Bartholomew de Las Casas, who knew him 
personally in Cuba, gives more place to his vir- 
tues in the description he has left of him, than 
do some others; while admitting that he was 
quick to resent a liberty, jealous of his dignity, 
too ready to take offence, he adds that he was 
neither vindictive nor slow to forgive. As an 
administrator of the affairs of the island, he 
showed himself active and capable, encouraging 
immigration, assisting the colonists, and extend- 
ing the zone of Spanish influence. It appears 
therefore that his rather petty defects of char- 
acter did not usually interfere with his public 



lo Fernando Cortes 

conduct, and that he discharged his official 
duties satisfactorily to the colonists and as a 
faithful representative of the crown. He was, 
however, unquestionably avaricious, egotistical, 
and ambitious, and withal no easy master to 
serve. Commenting on the reproaches he after- 
wards heaped upon Cortes for his ingratitude 
towards him, Oviedo says that it was no whit 
worse than his own had been towards his bene- 
factor, Diego Columbus, and hence it w^as " meas- 
ure for measure." His desire to explore by 
deputy, and to win distinction vicariously, was 
defeated by the impossibility of finding men pos- 
sessed of the required ability to undertake succes- 
fully such ventures, combined with sufficient do- 
cility to surrender to him the glory and profits. 
The two fundamental versions of the historic 
quarrel between Cortes and Velasquez are con- 
tradictory. One is furnished by Gomara, the 
other by Las Casas, and, upon one or the other, 
later historians have based their accounts. The 
version of Las Casas is that of an eye-witness 
while Gomara, on the other hand, only began his 
Cronica de la Conquista some twenty-five years 
or more after the events of which he wrote, and 
under the inspiration and direction of Cortes, 
then Marques del Valle, whose chaplain he had 
shortly before become. 

Gomara's chronicle was somewhat of an apo- 
logia, and it no sooner appeared tlian its 
accuracy and veracity were impugned by partici- 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 1 1 

pauts in the events lie described; notably by 
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, whose history was 
undertaken for the declared purpose of correct- 
ing Gomara, and was called with emphasis the 
True History of the Conquest. Gomara's ac- 
count is briefly as follows : Cortes at that time 
paid court to Catalina Xuarez la Marcaida, one 
of the poor but beautiful sisters of his partner 
in Manicaro, Juan Xuarez, and won such favours 
from the lady as entitled her to exact the fulfil- 
ment of a promise of marriage, which she de- 
clared he had made her, but with which he 
refused to comply. The Xuarez family was from 
Granada, and came originally in the suite of 
Doiia Maria de Toledo, wife of the viceroy, Don 
Diego Columbus, to Hispaniola, where it was 
hoped the four girls, whose dowry was their 
beauty, might make good marriages among the 
rich planters. This hope was not realised in 
Santo Domingo, and they removed to Cuba. 
Catalina, the eldest, was the most beautiful of 
all, and had many admirers, amongst whom her 
preference fell upon Cortes, who was ever ready 
for gallant adventures. TJie matter was brought 
before the governor, who summoned Cortes ad 
audiendum verhum, influenced in Catalina's 
favour, it was said, by one of her sisters, to 
whose charms he himself was not indifferent. 
In spite of official pressure, Cortes refused to 
make the reparation exacted of him. Such 
high words followed that the governor ordered 



12 Fernando Cortes 

liim to be imprisoned in the fortress under the 
charge of the alcalde, Cristobal de Lagos. His 
imprisonment was brief, for he managed to es- 
cape, carrying off the sword and buckler of his 
gaoler, and to take sanctuary in a church, from 
which neither the promises nor the threats of 
Velasquez could beguile him. One day, how- 
ever, w^hen he unwarily showed himself before 
the church door, the alguacil, Juan Escudero, 
seized him from behind and, aided by others, 
carried him on board a ship lying in the 
harbour. Cortes feared this foreshadowed trans- 
portation and, setting his Avits to work, he con- 
trived to escape a second time, dressed in the 
clothes of a servant, who attended him. He 
let himself down into a small skiff and pulled 
for the shore, but the strength of the current 
at that point, where the waters of the Maca- 
guanigua Kiver flow into the sea, was such, that 
his frail craft capsized, and he reached the 
shore swimming, with certain valuable papers 
tied in a packet on top of his head. He then 
betook himself to Juan Xuarez, from whom 
he procured clothes and arms, and again took 
sanctuary in the church. These repeated es- 
capes suggest sympathetic collusion on the part 
of his gaolers. 

Velasquez professed to be won over by such 
bravery and resource, and sent mutual friends 
to make peace. Bnt Cortes, although he mar- 
ried Catalina, refused the governor's overtures. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 13 

and would not even speak to liim, until, some 
Indian troubles breaking out, and Velasquez 
being at his headquarters outside the town, he 
somewhat alarmed the governor by suddenly 
appearing before him late one night, fully 
armed, saying that he had come to make peace 
and to offer his services. They shook hands 
and spent a long time in conversation to- 
gether, and slept that night in the same 
bed, where they were found next morning by 
Diego de Orellana, who came to announce to 
the governor that Cortes had fled from the 
church. 

Las Casas tells a different tale, in which no 
mention is made of the refusal to marry Cata- 
lina Xuarez as having any part in the quarrel, 
but asserts rather, that Cortes was secretary 
to Velasquez, and that the news of the arrival 
of certain appellate judges in Hispaniola having 
reached Cuba, all the malcontents in the colony, 
and those disaffected towards Velasquez, began 
secretly to collect material on which to base 
accusations against him, and that Cortes, act- 
ing with them, had been chosen to carry this 
information to the judges. The governor was 
informed of the plot, and arrested Cortes in the 
act of embarking with the incriminating papers 
in his possession, and would have ordered him 
to be hanged on the spot but for the interven- 
tion of his friends, who pleaded for him. Las 
Casas scouts the idea of any such reconciliation 



14 Fernando Cortes 

as Gomara describes, and says tliat the governor, 
althoiigli he pardoned him, would not have him 
back as secretary, adding : " I saw Cortes in 
those days so small and humble that he would 
have craved the notice of the meanest servant 
of Velasquez." 

The wrath of Velasquez was short-lived, for 
he afterwards made Cortes alcalde, and stood 
godfather to one of his children. During the 
succeeding years, the fortunes of Cortes im- 
proved, and he amassed a capital of some three 
thousand castellanos of which Las Casas re- 
marks : " God will have kept a better account 
than I, of the lives it cost." Though married 
reluctantly, he seems to have been contented, 
and he described himself to the bishop as just 
as happy with Catalina as though she were the 
daughter of a duchess.^ 
^ Gold was the magnet which drew the Spanish 
adventurers to the New World, and, though it 
had nowhere been found either so easily or so 
plentifully as they expected, enough had been 
discovered to whet their appetites for more. 
They lived in the midst of a world of mysterious 
possibilities which might any day, by a lucky 
discovery, become realities. The Spanish settle- 
ments in the New World were, at that time, lim- 
ited to the islands of Hispaniola (Hayti), Cuba, 
Puerto Eico, and Jamaica, which were called 

^ Las Casas, Hist. Ind., lib. iii., cap. xxvii. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 15 

tlie " Indies " ^ by the discoverers and con- 
querors, because they were firmly persuaded 
they had encircled half the globe and reached 
the Orient. Besides these four islands, there 
was the colony of Darien. Serious projects 
for colonisation were not yet conceived, and 
what settlements there were, had been made 
by disillusioned immigrants, who, when they 
found that gold and pearls, instead of lying 
at their feet, had to be sought as elsewhere, 
with hard labour, enslaved the natives for 
the exploitation of the natural resources of the 
islands. Thus the slave trade sprang up, and, 
as the Indians, unaccustomed to hard work 
and harsh treatment died off in such numbers 
as to rapidly depopulate the neighbourhoods of 
the Spanish settlements, expeditions were con- 
stantly organised to the neighbouring islands 
for the purpose of capturing the natives. The 
system of repartimientos and encomiendas 
was begun under Columbus and, in spite of 
the denunciation of the Church and repeated 
edicts of the home government, the slave trade 
flourished and the island population rapidly 
dwindled. 

In 1517 Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, a 
rich planter of Cuba, organised and equipped 
a fleet of three vessels manned in part by some 

^ Commonly referred to by early writers as the Islands, 
in contradistinction to the settlements established later 
on the mainland. 



1 6 Fernando Cortes 

of the survivors of the first colony at Darien, 
and of which he himself took command. The 
principal object of this expedition was to cap- 
ture Indians to be sold as slaves in Cuba, and 
the governor furnished one ship on condition 
that he should be reimbursed in slaves.^ The 
first land discovered was a small island to which, 
was given the name of Las Mugeres (Women's 
Island), because of the images of female deities - 
they found in the temple there. This island 
lies off the extreme point of Yucatan, and 
from it, the Spaniards saw, what seemed to 
them, a large and important city, with many 
towers and lofty buildings, to which they gave 
the fanciful name of Grand Cairo. In a battle 
with the Indians at Catoche, they captured two 
natives, who afterwards became Christians, bap- 
tised under the names of Julian and Melchor, 
and rendered valuable services as interpreters. 
Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba died a few 
days after his arrival in Cuba from the wounds 
he had received at Catoche, and the other mem- 
bers of the expedition made their way back to 
Santiago where the spoils taken from the tem- 
ples, the specimens of gold, the two strange 
Indians, and most of all, the marvellous tales 
of the men, served to excite the eager cupiditj^ 
of the colonists, ever ready to believe that El 
Dorado was found. 

^ Bernal Diaz, cap. i. 

- Statues of the goddesses Xchel, Ixchebeliax, and others. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 17 

Diego Velasquez promptly organised an ex- 
pedition to follow up these discoveries and 
to establish trading relations with the natives, 
which he placed under the command of his 
kinsman, Juan de Grijalba.^ It was composed 
of four ships, the San Sebastian, La Trinidad, 
Santiago, and Santa Maria. The captains 
under Grijalba were Francisco de Avila, Pedro 
de Alvarado, and Francisco de Montejo.^ This 
fleet set sail on May 1, 1518, and after a fair voy- 
age, reached the island of Cozumel on May 3d.^ 
Grijalba visited several points along the coast, 

1 He was a native of Cuellar who came as a lad to 
Cuba. 

2 Bernal Diaz, cap. viii.; Oviedo, lib. xviii., cap. viii.; 
Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap. i. 

3 Itinerario de larmata del Rey Cattolico, in Icaz- 
balceta's Documentos Ineditos, vol. i. 

Cozumel, also sometimes called AcLizamil (ah-Cuzamil 
meaning the " Swallows ") was discovered on the feast 
of the Invention of the Holy Cross and hence named by 
him, Santa Cruz. He took possession in the name of the 
Spanish sovereigns and of Diego Velasquez, under whose 
commission the expedition had sailed. There was a stone 
building on the island, having a square tower with a door 
in each of its four sides. Inside this were idols, palm 
branches, and bones, which the Indians said were those of 
a great chief. (Oviedo, lib. xvii., cap. ix.) The tower was 
surmounted by a smaller square turret which was reached 
by an outside staircase. Grijalba hoisted the Spanish flag 
on this turret and named the place San Juan de Puerta 
Latina. The chaplain, Fray Juan Diaz said mass. The 
inhabitants seemed poor, and what gold they produced was 
mostly an alloy with copper, of little value, which the In- 
dians called guanin and prized highly. (Las Casas, lib. 
vii., cap. Ixvii.) 



1 8 Fernando Cortes 

giving Spanish names to various bays, islands, 
rivers, and towns. The Tabasco River, of which 
the correct Indian name seems to have been 
Tabzcoob, received the name of Grijalba. On 
arriving at the river which they named Banderas^ 
because of the numerous Indians carrying white 
flags, whom they saw along the coast, they first 
heard of the existence of Montezuma, of whom 
these people were vassals, and by whom they had 
been ordered to keep a look out for the possible 
return of the white men, whose former visit had 
been reported to the emperor. On the 17th of 
June, a landing was made on the small island, 
where the Spaniards first discovered the proofs 
that human sacrifices and cannibalism were 
practised by the natives, for they found there 
a blood-stained idol, human heads, members, 
and whole bodies with the breasts cut open and 
the hearts gone.^ Grijalba named the island Isla 
de los Sacrificios. 



Cozumel was a place of pilgrimage, and in one of the 
great temples there stood a hollow terra-cotta statue, 
called Teel-Cuzam (The Swallow's Feet), in which a priest 
placed himself to give oracular answers to the pilgrims. 
(Cogolludo, Hist, de Yucatan, lib. iv., cap. vii.) 

1 This practice is traced, by some historians, to the tribe 
of the Mexi, which descended from Tenoch, son of Iztacmix- 
coatl, the progenitor of the Nahoa family, but, with what 
justice, does not clearly appear, as this people may have 
received it from some tribe or race preceding, or allied, 
to them. Prisoners taken in war were the most highly 
prized victims, but failing these, or for the celebration 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 19 

From the island which they named San Juan 
de Ulua ^ (from the word Gulua which they im- 
perfectly caught from the natives), Grijalba 
sent Pedro de Alvarado, on June 24th, with the 
San Sehastian, to carry the results of his trad- 



of minor festivals, slaves were easily bought, or were 
offered by their owners for the purpose. Small infants 
were also commonly sold by their mothers, and instances 
of free-born men offering themselves as victims, for one 
motive or another, were not unknown. The victims were 
frequently drugged, in such wise that they went un- 
consciously, or even willingly to the altar. If a great 
festival, requiring many, and choice victims, fell in a 
time of peace, war would be undertaken upon any frivo- 
lous pretext, in order to procure the desired offerings. 

The warrior who had captured the victim in battle 
would not eat of the latter's flesh, as a sort of spiritual 
relationship was held to exist between them, not dis- 
similar to that of a sponsor and his god-child in Chris- 
tian baptism, or even closer, for the flesh of the victim 
was considered also as the very flesh of the captor. The 
eating of this human body was not an act of gluttonous 
cannibalism alone, but was believed to have mystic signi- 
ficance, the flesh having undergone some mysterious trans- 
mutation, by virtue of the sacrificial rite, and to be really 
consecrated ; it was spoken of also, as the "true body " of 
the deity, to whom it was offered, and, also, as the " food 
of soul." None but chiefs, and distinguished persons, spe- 
cially designated, were permitted to partake of the sacra- 
mental feast, which was celebrated with much ceremony 
and gravity. If the victim were a slave, the rites were 
similar, but simpler. 

1 A small island in the harbour of Vera Cruz, on which 
the Spaniards afterwards built their greatest fortress in 
America. It was the last stronghold over which the 
Spanish flag floated in Mexico. 



20 Fernando Cortes 

ing operations and an account of liis discoveries 
to Diego Velasquez, and to ask for an authorisa- 
tion to colonise, wliicli had not been given in 
his original instructions, but which the members 
of the expedition exacted should now be done.^ 
Diego Velasquez had meanwhile felt some im- 
patience, which gradually became alarm, at 
hearing nothing from the expedition, so he sent 
Cristobal de Olid, with a ship, to look for it. 
Olid landed also at Cozumel, and took formal 
possession by right, as he supposed, of discov- 
ery. After coasting about for some time, and 
finding no traces of Grijalba, and having been 
obliged to cut his cables in a storm which had 
lost him his anchors, he returned to Cuba to 
augment the uneasiness of the governor. At 
this juncture, however, Alvarado arrived with 
the treasure and Grijalba's report and, without 
waiting for more news, Velasquez set about pre- 
paring another expedition. He sent Juan de 
Saucedo to Hispaniola to solicit from the Jerony- 
mite fathers - the necessary authority for his 

1 Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, lib. iii., cap. cxii. 

~ Las Casas had succeeded by the moving picture he 
drew of the cruelties practised by the colonists on the 
Indians, in interesting Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros in 
their welfare. The Cardinal, being then regent of Spain, 
pending the arrival of the young King Charles from 
Flanders, appointed a commission composed of three 
Jeronymite friars to reside in Hispaniola and see that 
the recently enacted laws for the protection of the natives 
were observed. These friars were not governors as has 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 21 

undertaking, whose objects, it was stated, were 
to look for Grijalba's lost armada, which might 
be in danger, to seek for Cristobal de Olid (not- 
withstanding he was already safely returned), 
and to rescue six Spanish captives who were said 
to be prisoners of a cacique in Yucatan. On 
October the 5thj Grijalba arrived in Cuba, where 
he was coldly received by the governor, who 
professed himself much disappointed at the 
meagre results of the voyage, and criticised the 
captain severely for not having yielded to the 
wishes of his companions to found a settlement 
on the newly discovered coast, despite his own 
instructions to the contrary. 

Several names were under consideration for 
the commandership of the new armada, but for 
different reasons one after the other was ex- 
cluded, and the governor's final choice fixed 
upon Fernando Cortes.^ This selection was at- 
tributed to the influence of Amador de Lares, 
a royal official of astute character who exercised 
a certain ascendency over Velasquez, and of 
Andres de Duero, the governor's private secre- 
tary, both of whom Cortes had induced by 
promises of a generous share of the treasures 
that might be discovered, to present his name 

been stated by some writers, though they exercised large 
powers of control over the dealings of the Spanish colo- 
nists with the Indians. Their mission was only partially 
successful and their residence in the Indies was brief. 
1 Las Casas, lib. iii., cap. civ. ; Bernal Diaz, cap. xix. 



22 Fernando Cortes 

and secure his appointment. Since both Gri- 
jalba and Olid were safely back in Cuba, the 
only one of the three reasons first advanced for 
this expedition which remained, was the rescue 
of the Christian captives in Yucatan, and, al- 
though Velasquez had severely censured Gri- 
jalba for not establishing a colony or trading 
post somewhere, he also omitted this authori- 
sation in his instructions to Cortes. 

Cortes threw himself, heart and soul, into the 
new enterprise, which offered him exactly the 
opportunity, in search of which he had come to 
the Indies fourteen years before. The mutual 
recriminations afterwards indulged in, so ob- 
scure the facts that it is difficult to discover 
exactly what share of the expense of the equip- 
ment was borne by each, but of Cortes it must 
be said that he staked everything he possessed 
or could j)rocure on the venture, even raising 
loans by mortgages on his property. His ap- 
pointment to such an important command did 
not fail to arouse jealousies on the part of 
some, and the increased consequence he gave 
himself in his dress, manners, and way of living 
served to so aggravate these sentiments that, 
hardly had the work of organisation got fairly 
under way, when his enemies adroitly began to 
excite the suspicious spirit of Velasquez. A 
dwarf, who played the court jester in the gov- 
ernor's household, was inspired to make oracular 
jokes, in which thinly veiled warnings of what 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 23 

was to be expected of Cortes's masterful spirit, 
once he was free from control and in command 
of such, an armada, were conveyed to Velasquez, 
and these barbed jests did not fail of their pur- 
pose. The governor's distrust finally pushed 
him to the incredible folly of deciding to revoke 
his appointment as commander, and to sub- 
stitute one Vasco Porcallo, a native of Ca- 
ceres. This decision he made known to Lares 
and Duero, the very men through whom Cortes 
had negotiated to obtain his place, and they 
hastened to warn their protege of the governor's 
intention. 

To accept the humiliation, the public ridicule, 
to say nothing of the financial ruin, into which 
the revocation of his appointment, almost on the 
eve of sailing, would have plunged him, was an 
alternative which never could have been for a 
moment considered by Cortes, who immediately 
hastened his preparations, got his provisions 
and men on board that same day, and stood 
down the bay with all his ships during the 
night. He even seized the entire meat supply 
of the town, for which he paid with a gold 
chain he wore.^ The accounts of the manner 
of the departure of the fleet conflict, and it has 
been represented as a veritable flight, but Ber- 
nal Diaz asserts that, although he got every- 
thing ready very quickly and hastened the date 

-Las Casas, Historia de las Indias, cap. cxiv. ; Gomara, 
Cronica d& la Conquista, cap. vii. 



24 Fernando Cortes 

of sailing, Cortes went with a number of 
others, and took formal leave of the governor 
with embraces and mutual good wishes; 
and that after he had heard mass, Diego 
Velasquez came down to the port to see the 
armada off. 

This simple and natural version is in con- 
sonance with the character of Cortes, and he 
doubtless exercised scrupulous care to avoid 
provoking the testy governor. Aware of the in- 
trigues against him, and of the uncertainty of 
his position, his safety lay in pushing forward 
his preparations with unostentatious haste, 
masking his determination under an astute 
display of increased deference towards his sus- 
picious superior. Although he had evidently 
secured his captains, and could count on his 
crews, the moment for an act of open defiance 
was not yet, nor did Velasquez, in a letter to 
the licenciate Figueroa, dated November 17, 
1519, which was to be delivered to Charles V., 
allege any such, though he would hardly have 
failed to make the most of each item in his 
arraignment of his rebellious lieutenant. Stop- 
ping at Macaca, Trinidad, and Havana he for- 
cibly seized stores at these places, and from 
ships which he stopped, sometimes paying for 
them, and sometimes giving receipts and prom- 
ises. Everywhere he increased his armament, 
and enlisted more men. 

The governor's uneasy suspicions augmented 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 25 

after the sailing of the fleet, being aggravated 
by the members of his household, who were 
jealous of the sudden rise in Cortes's fortunes, 
and, possibly, honestly distrustful of the signs 
of independence he had already manifested. In 
the work of fretting Velasquez, a half foolish 
astrologer was called in, who foretold disaster 
and imputed to Cortes, schemes of revenge for 
past wrongs, referring to his former imprison- 
ment by the governor's orders, and forecasting 
treachery. These representations harmonised 
but too well with Velasquez's own fears, and 
easily prevailed upon him to send decisive 
orders to his brother-in-law, Francisco Verdugo, 
alcalde mayor of Trinidad, to assume command 
of the fleet until Vasco Porcallo, who had been 
appointed successor to Cortes, should arrive. 
For greater security he repeated these instruc- 
tions to Diego de Ordaz, Francisco de Morla, 
and others on whose loyalty he thought he 
could count. (Nobody, however, undertook to 
carry out the orders to displace and imprison 
Cortes, wiiose faculty for making friends was 
such, that he had already won over all those 
on whom Velasquez relied, especially Ordaz and 
Verdugo.^ The very messengers who brought 
the official orders to degrade and imprison him 
joined the expedition.■^ Public sympathy was 

^ Gomara, Cronica, cap. viii. ; Las Casas, Hist. Gen., cap. 
cxiv., cxv.; De Rebus Gestis in Icazbalceta, Documentos 
Ineditos, torn. i. 



26 Fernando Cortes 

entirely with him, for he had rallied some of 
the best men in Cuba to his standard, who thus 
had a stake in the success of the enterprise 
which depended primarily on the ability of the 
commander. They had full confidence in their 
leader, and it suited neither their temper nor 
their interest to see him superseded. It 
was Cortes himself who replied to the 
governor's letters, seeking to reassure him 
with protestations of loyalty and affection, 
counselling him meanwhile to silence the ma- 
licious tongues of the mischief-makers in 
Santiago. 

The governor was in no way tranquillised by 
such a communication ; on the contrary, the sup- 
pression of his orders by Verdugo enraged him 
beyond measure. The fleet had meanwhile gone 
to Havana whither a confidential messenger, 
one Garnica, was sent with fresh, and more 
stringent orders to the lieutenant-governor, 
Pedro Barba who resided there, positively for- 
bidding the fleet to sail, and ordering the im- 
mediate imprisonment of Cortes. Diego Velas- 
quez was seldom happy in his choice of men, 
and, in this instance, his " confidential " mes- 
senger not only brought these official orders to 
the lieutenant-governor, but he likewise delivered 
to Fray Bartolome de Olmedo, a Mercedarian 
friar who accomj)anied the expedition, a certain 
letter from anotlier priest, resident in the execu- 
tive household, warning Cortes of the sense of the 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 2 7 

governor's orders.^ Failure attended all Velas- 
quez's efforts, for Don Pedro Barba replied, 
telling him plainly that it was not in his po^\'er 
to stop Cortes, who was jDopular, not only with 
Ms troops, but also with the townspeople; and 
that any attempt to interfere with him would 
result in a general rising in his favour. Bernal 
Diaz declares that they would have died for 
him, to a man. 

During these days he played, as he himself 
afterwards described it to Las Casas, the part 
of " the gentle corsair." ^ Parting in this 
manner from the royal governor of Cuba, joint 
owner of the ships and their contents, it is 
obvious that there was no turning back for 
Cortes; he was henceforth driven forward by 
the knowledge that sure disgrace, very likely 
death was behind him, and drawn on by tiie 
enticing prospect of achieving such complete 
success as should vindicate his lawless courses. 

The entire fleet ^ sailed for the island of 

1 Las Casas comments severely on the want of judg- 
ment displayed by Velasquez in his attempts to recall 
Cortes. " Never have I seen so little knowledge of affairs 
shown, as in this letter of Diego Velasquez — that he should 
have imagined that one who had but recently so affronted 
him, would delay his departure at his bidding! " {Hist. 
Gen., cap. cxv.) 

2 Hist. Gen., cap. cxv. 

s Authorities do not agree in regard to the force com- 
manded by Cortes. Bernal Diaz states that the number 
of mariners was one hundred and ten, while of soldiers, in- 
cluding thirty-two crossbowmen and thirteen arquebusiers, 



2 8 Fernando Cortes 

Cozumel on February 18, 1519, and the first 
vessel to reach land was the one commanded 
by Pedro de Alvarado who began his career by 
an act of disobedience to orders, characteristic 
of his headstrong and cruel temperament. When 
the commander arrived two days later, he 
found that the Indians had all been frightened 
away by the Spaniards' violence in plundering 
their town, and taking some of them prisoners.^ 
Cortes clearly defined his policy in dealing with 
the natives at the very outset. After ordering 
the pilot Camacho, who had brought the vessel 
to land before the others, to be clapped into 
irons, for disobeying his orders, he severely 
rebuked Alvarado, explaining to him that his 
measures were fatal to the success of the ex- 
pedition. The prisoners were not only released, 
but each received gifts, and all were assured 
through the interpreters, Melchor and Julian, 

there were five hundred and fifty-three; two hundred In- 
dians, men and women, went along as porters, cooks, and 
camp-servants. There were sixteen horses, which proved 
to be his most valuable asset, being of greater use even 
than the ten cannon and four small falconets he carried. 

The Letter of Relation from Vera Cruz gives the total 
number of soldiers as four hundred, while Diego Velas- 
quez himself vsrrote to the licenciate Figueroa, chief judge 
in Hispaniola that they numbered six hundred men. The 
supply of ammunition was plentiful. The flag-ship was 
a vessel of one hundred tons burden, three others were 
of eighty tons, and the remainder were small brigantines 
without decks, — in all eleven vessels. 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xxv. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 29 

that tliey should suffer no further harm, and 
that they should therefore go and call hack the 
others who had fled. Everything that had been 
stolen from the town was restored, and the 
fowls and other provisions that had been eaten, 
were all paid for liberally. Discipline was en- 
forced, also, among the Spaniards, and seven 
sailors, who were found guilty of stealing some 
bacon from a soldier, were sentenced to be 
publicly whipped. 

The head chief of the island came to visit 
Cortes, who received him with every demon- 
stration of friendship, assuring him that the 
persons and the property of all his people would 
be respected. This diplomacy was highly suc- 
cessful, and Spaniards and Indians mingled 
together in perfect amity.^ Cortes learned from 
the caciques that there were some white prison- 
ers in Yucatan about two days' march distant 
from there, and that some traders who were 
there present had seen them only a few days 
before. A messenger was despatched in search 
of the captives, bearing a letter tied in his hair.^ 

''■First Letter of Relation to Charles V.: Las Casas, lib. 
iii., cap. cxvii.; Bernal Diaz, cap. xxv., xxvi.; Gomara, 
Cronica, cap. x. 

2 Noble Sirs, I left Cuba with a fleet of eleven ships 
and five hundred Spaniards and have arrived at Cozumel, 
whence I write you this letter. 

The people of this island assure me that there are five 
or six bearded white men in this country, who greatly 
resemble us, and I conjecture, though they can give me 



3° Fernando Cortes 

Three days after the departure of this mes- 
senger, Cortes took the further precaution of 
desiDatching Diego de Ordaz, with the two 
smallest brigantines to Cape Catoche, where 
other messengers were landed with instructions 
to find the captives or return with some in- 
formation within eight days. During this inter- 
val of waiting, Cortes undertook the conversion 
of the natives, employing the interpreters Julian 
and Melchor to explain the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, and to exhort them to abandon their 
superstitions and idolatry. The Indians af- 
firmed that their gods were beneficent, bring- 
ing them health, harvests, and victory over their 
enemies, and that they would under no circum- 
stances abandon them. The zeal of Cortes being 
of the impetuous order that ill-brooked resist- 
ance, he had the idols overthrown and rolled 
down the steps of the temple; he ordered the in- 
terior to be thoroughly cleansed, after which an 
altar was improvised, a statue of Our Lady set up, 
and two carpenters constructed a large cross of 
wood above the altar. The chaplain of the ex- 
no other indications, that you are Spaniards. I, and the 
gentlemen who have come with me to explore and take 
possession of these countries, earnestly beg you to come 
to us within five or six days after you receive this, without 
further delay or excuse. 

If you will come, all of us will recognise, and thank 
you, for the assistance this armada shall receive from 
you. I send a brigantine to bring you, with two ships 
as escort. Hernan Cortes. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 31 

pedition, Juan Diaz, then said mass. What 
impression these acts made upon the Indians, 
Ave have no means of knowing. Cortes reported 
to the emperor that he had succeeded in making 
them understand perfectly their obligations as 
Christians, and that he left them contented v^ith 
their new religion. This optimistic view can 
hardly be accepted unreservedly. Julian and 
Melchor doubtless possessed but an indifferent 
knowledge of Spanish, and their comprehension 
of the mysteries of the Catholic religion was 
probably imperfect, while there was nothing in 
the daily conduct of the Spaniards to favourably 
illustrate Christian morals. The emblem of the 
cross was no doubt perfectly acceptable to the 
Indians, as it was the sign of their own rain-god 
and hence a familiar symbol of worship. 

At the end of the eight days Diego de Ordaz 
returned from Catoche, and reported that the 
Indian messengers had not appeared, and that 
owing to rough weather and the dangerous char- 
acter of the coast, he had been obliged to return 
to save his ships from foundering. Cortes 
showed some vexation at this result. 

On March 5th ^ the fleet sailed for Isla 
de las Mugeres where the people landed and 
heard mass. An accident to the ship com- 
manded by Juan de Escalante delayed the others 
until the twelfth of the month, while his vessel 

1 Gomara, cap. xii. 



32 Fernando Cortes 

was lightened of lier cargo and repaired. A 
violent storm of wind and rain occasioned still 
further delay in leaving port, and on March 
13th an Indian log canoe was seen approaching, 
in which were three naked men, armed with 
bows and arrows. One of these men advanced 
and called out in Spanish, " Are you Christians, 
and of what sovereign are you vassals? " ^ This 
was Geronimo de Aguilar, a native of Encija, 
a man in holy orders, who had been captured 
with some twenty others, while crossing from 
Darien to Hispaniola. Their caravel, under 
command of Valdivia, was wrecked on the treach- 
erous reefs called Las Viboras, situated fifteen 
leagues to the south of Jamaica, and extending 
a distance of forty-five leagues. Twenty of the 
crew were saved in an open boat, without sails, 
food, or water, and after drifting hopelessly for 
fourteen days, during which time seven or eight 
died, their boat was cast on the coast of Yuca- 
tan. Valdivia and five others were at once 
sacrificed and eaten by the Mayas who had cap- 
tured them, and the survivors were confined in 
cages to fatten for the same miserable end. 
Geronimo de Aguilar and Alonso Guerrero suc- 
ceeded in escaping and, after wandering some 
time in the forests, were captured by another, 
but less blood-thirsty, cacique, who treated them 
kindly. Guerrero adopted the ways and cus- 

1 Andres de Tapia, Relacion in Icazbalceta, p. 556. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 33 

toms of the Indians; learned their language; 
tattooed his face; married an Indian wife; and 
became, in all respects, one of them. He rose 
to a position of some influence in the tribe, and 
it was even alleged that he shared in their 
idolatry and cannibalism. 

When Cortes's letter was delivered to Aguilar, 
he procured permission to go to the white men, 
but his companion, Guerrero, refused to go, for 
he was ashamed to show himself, naked and 
tattooed.^ Moreover he was fond of his wife 
and his three sons, and enjoyed a position of 
authority in the country, whereas to go back 
to Spain meant for him a return to poverty and 
hardship. Aguilar was taken before Cortes, 
who failed to distinguish him from the Indians, 
and asked Andres de Tapia, which was the 
Spaniard. The finding of Geronimo de Aguilar 
fulfilled one of the original purposes of the ex- 
pedition. 

The fleet set sail from Cozumel on March 
13th, and after experiencing some rough 
weather which separated the ships from one an- 
other, again united at the island of Las Mugeres 
the following day. One of the captains, Esco- 
bar, was sent in a brigantine to explore the 
Boca de Terminos and returned bringing a 
quantity of hare and rabbit skins. He had been 
welcomed with great effusion by a greyhound 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xxvii. 
3 



34 Fernando Cortes 

that had been left behind by Grijalba's men, 
and had evidently prospered on the fat of the 
land. From Boca de Terminos, the ships con- 
tinued to the Tabasco River, which, as before 
stated, the Spaniards had christened Rio de Gri- 
jalva. As the larger vessels could not ascend 
the river, Cortes landed his people in small 
barques at a point some half a league dis- 
tant from the town of Tabasco, where Gri- 
jalba had had a friendly reception from the 
natives. 

The Indians were found to have changed their 
sentiments towards the white men and Geronimo 
de Aguilar, who acted as interpreter, announced 
that the chiefs were defiant, and the town full 
of armed men prepared to fight. Cortes estab- 
lished his camp as well as possible, and sent out 
three scouts to find a road leading into the town. 
The following day (March 23d,) several canoes 
appeared, bringing a few provisions for the 
Spaniards, but the Indians insisted that they 
should leave the country without entering their 
town. Cortes replied by causing the pompous 
requerimiento or summons, that he had in read- 
iness, to he read to them, which invited and 
admonished the Indians as vassals of the Spanish 
sovereign to yield obedience. This document 
was invented and drawn up, for the use of 
Pedrarius de Avila by Dr. Palacios Rubio, 
a jurisconsult and member of the Royal 
Council, and was afterwards employed in 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 35 

the other colonies.^ The requirement began 
thus: 



On the part of the King Fernando and of the 
Qneen Dona Juana, his daughter, Queen of Cas- 
tile, Leon, &c., &c. : Rulers of the barbarous na- 
tives, we their servants notify and make it known 
to you, as best we can, that the living and eternal 
God, Our Lord, created the heavens and the earth 
and a man and a woman, of whom you and we 
and all men in the world are descendants, as well 
as all who shall come after us. However, because 
of the multitude of generations issuing from these, 
in the five thousand years since the creation of 
the world, it was necessary that some should go 
one way, and some another, and that they should 
be divided into many kingdoms and many pro- 
vinces, as they could not maintain themselves in 
one. God, Our Lord, gave the charge of all these 
people to one called St. Peter, that he should be 
lord and superior over all men in the world and 
that all should obey him, and that he should be 
the head of all the human race and should love 
all men, of whatsoever land, religion and belief; 
and He gave him the world for his kingdom, order- 
ing his seat to be placed in Rome, as the place 
best suited for ruling the world; but he was per- 
mitted also to establish his seat in any other part 
of the world and to judge and govern all peoples, 



1 The full text of this document is reprinted in Orozco y 
Berra, torn, iv., p. 86. 



A 



36 Fernando Cortes 

ChristianSj Moors, Jews, Gentiles, and of whatso- 
ever other sect or creed they might be, &c.^ 

The provisions of the papal bull giving the do- 
minion over America to the Spanish sovereigns 
then followed. 

The notary, or clerk, who accompanied the 
expedition, read this unique document, indif- 
ferent to the fact that the Indians could not 
comprehend a word, even were they near enough 
to hear; and sometimes the reading of it w^ould 
take place with no Indians at all present. All 
scruples were satisfied by this formality, and, 
if submission did not follow, the commander 
dealt with the natives as with obdurate rebels 
against the royal authority. 

The Indians at Tabasco neither comprehended 
nor heeded the reading of this singular claim 
on their obedience, and there ensued a fiercely 
contested battle, in which they vainly disputed 
the landing of the Spaniards. Cortes took for- 
mal possession of the country for his sovereign, 
striking the trunk of a great ceiba tree that 
grew in the court of the principal temple, three 
times with his sword, and announcing that he 
would defend his king's prerogative against all 
comers. The Indian interpreter, Melchor, de- 
serted the Spaniards during this fight, an^ en- 
couraged his countrymen to keep up a continuous 

1 Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., p. 86. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 37 

attack, telling them the white men were few 
in number and mortal like themselves. Three 
prisoners were taken by the Spaniards, who 
furnished this information to Aguilar, adding 
that a combined attack by all the Indian forces 
would be made on the morrow. 

The next morning, at dawn, Cortes took com- 
mand of twelve of his best horsemen, and, 
having divided his forces into three divisions of 
one hundred men, each under command of a 
captain, and provided a rear-guard of one hun- 
dred more, he marched his men out towards the 
village of Ceutla, where a multitude of war- 
riors, well armed and wearing their martial 
paint and feathers, were awaiting them. The 
Indians rushed courageously to the fray and, 
by sheer force of numbers, overwhelmed the in- 
vaders in such wise that it was hardly possible 
to distinguish friend from foe, and the battle 
became a hand to hand fight at the closest 
possible quarters. 

Though under fire for the first time, the war- 
riors showed little fear of the strange weapons 
that dealt death amongst them, partly because 
it was difficult for them to observe the deadly 
effects of the muskets, and partly because the 
din of their drums and trumpets drowned the 
sound of the firing. Cortes, who had held his 
horsemen concealed in a wood, from whence he 
observed the course of the battle, suddenly fell 
upon the rear-guard of the enemy. The ap- 



38 Fernando Cortes 

pearance of the horses, which the Indians be- 
held for the first time, their quick movements 
and the glancing armour of the cavaliers, struck 
terror and amazement among the warriors. The 
horse and his rider seemed to them one resistless 
creature. This spirited attack on the enemy's 
rear, scattered the Indians, and enabled the 
Spanish infantry to collect and re-form their 
lines. The retreat soon became a rout, the 
horsemen pursuing the fugitives across the open 
country, killing many, and capturing some, until 
the survivors disappeared into the impenetrable 
forests. 

This decisive battle, which took place on 
March 25th, became known as the battle of 
Ceiitla, and in Gomara\s Cronica, as well as in 
Tapia's Relacion and the accounts of others, the 
victory was attributed to the miraculous inter- 
vention of St. James, the patron of Spain, or of 
St. Peter, the patron of Cortes. Bernal Diaz says 
it may have been as Gomara describes, and that 
the glorious apostles, Seftor Santiago and Sefior 
San Pedro, did appear, but that he, miserable 
sinner, was not worthy to behold the apparition. ^ 

1 The first recorded apparition of St. James on the field 
of battle was at the great victory of Clavijo, A.D. 844, in 
which 70,000 Moslems perished; from thenceforth the 
Saint became the military pati'on of Spain and his name 
" Santiago," the popular battle-cry. Spanish soldiers were 
so familiar with the idea of the apostle's apparition that its 
recurrence in Mexico was simply a proof to them of the 
justice of their cause and a celestial assurance of victory. 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 39 

In the First Letter of Relation, Cortes re- 
ported to the emperor that twenty Spaniards 
were wounded in this engagement, of whom 
none died. The number of Indian warriors was 
fixed at forty thousand, increased by Andres 
de Tapia in his Relacion to forty-eight thousand, 
but these figures can hardly be accurate, and, 
as Orozco y Berra properly observes, must be 
taken to represent the idea of multitude rather 
than an actual counting.^ 

The immediate result of the battle of Ceutla 
was the submission of the entire province to 
the pretensions of the Spaniards. One cacique 
after another came to Cortes, bringing presents 
of gold, stuffs, provisions, and slaves, and offer- 
ing his allegiance to the King of Spain. It was 
part of Cortes's policy to receive the humbled 
chieftains kindly, and to declare that their past 
rebellion was forgotton and forgiven. In re- 
ply to enquiries as to whence came the gold, 
the Indians answered, " from Colhua," the latter 
word being one which had no significance as yet 
for the Spaniards, but which they took to mean 
some place farther inland. It appeared from 
what the interpreters could gather, that the 
deserter, Melchor, had been sacrificed by the 

1 Great discrepancy prevails in regard to the numbers 
engaged and the number slain or wounded. Las Casas 
sarcastically describes this battle, in which he declares 
30,000 natives fell, as the " first preaching of the gospel by 
Cortes in New Spain ! " — Hist Gen., cap. cxix. 



40 Fernando Cortes 

people of Tabasco when they saw the evil re- 
sults that followed on their acceptance of his 
counsel to resist the Spaniards. Cortes exacted 
as a gage of the caciques' 'good faith, that the 
inhabitants of the towns should return to 
their dwellings and to their usual occupations. 
When life had somewhat resumed its normal 
trend, his missionary zeal once more became 
active, and Fray Bartolome de Olmedo was di- 
rected to instruct the Indians in the Catholic 
faith and to exhort them to renounce idolatry. 
Geronimo de Aguilar doubtless proved a surer 
interpreter than his predecessor; in any case 
the people of Tabasco showed no reluctance to 
receive the friar's instructions and to acknow- 
ledge the power of the Christian God. A tem- 
ple was cleansed and provided with an altar, 
surmounted by a statue of the Blessed Virgin and 
Child, above which stood a large cross of wood. 
Fray Bartolome said mass and delivered a ser- 
mon, which was interpreted by Aguilar. The 
name of the town was changed to Santa Maria 
de la Victoria. 

Twenty female slaves who had been presented, 
by the caciques, to Cortes, were instructed by 
Fray Bartolome, and solemnly baptised, partly, 
if not chiefly, it would seem, to render them 
w^orthy of the embraces of the Christian Span- 
iards. Amongst these slave women, was Mar- 
ina of Painalla, the interpreter, whose part in 



To the Beginning of the Conquest 41 

the conquest will unfold itself in the course of 
this narrative, and who will be duly introduced 
in a later chapter. Cortes took his departure 
from Santa Maria on Palm Sunday, — the first 
Palm Sunday celebration ever witnessed on 
the American continent. The caciques were 
invited to be present at the religious ceremonies, 
and at an early hour all were assembled in the 
temple court where the altar with its cross and 
madonna had been erected. The Mercedarian 
friar, Bartolome de Olmedo, and the chaplain, 
Juan Diaz, celebrated the beautiful office of the 
day, with all the solemnity and whatever pomp 
their resources afforded. Cortes, with his offi- 
cers and men formed in procession, each carry- 
ing a blessed palm, and performing the adoration 
and kissing of the cross.^ The Indians, who 
viewed with silent wonder these imposing and 
mysterious rites, afterwards accompanied the 
Spaniards to their ships, where they took leave 
of them with many protestations of friendship 
and promises to observe the Catholic teachings 
imparted to them, and to venerate the cross and 
holy images left in their temple. 

The men crowded into the barques and some 
canoes furnished by the Indians and, still carry- 

1 This ceremony properly belongs to the Good Friday 
function and precedes the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified, but 
was probably inserted here the better to impress the 
Indians with the sanctity of the sacred emblem. 



42 Fernando Cortes 

ing the blessed palms, they passed down the 
stream to where the vessels rode at anchor, 
awaiting them.^ 

1 Bernal Diaz, caps, xxi-xxxvi. Andres de tapia, Re- 
lacion. Gomara, cap. xxviii. First Letter of Relation. 
Peter Martyr, De Insulis nuper inventis, p. 351. 



CHAPTER II 

MONTEZUMA AND HIS EMPIRE 

The Aztec Empire — Origines — Civilisation — Institutions 
— Montezuma — Quetzalcoatl 

IT is important at this point of our narrative 
to review the political organization of the 
Mexican empire; its moral, intellectual, and 
material conditions, as well as the character 
of the sovereign himself and the relations in 
which he stood to the neighbouring states, not 
subject to his rule. 

The Aztec empire at the time of the Spanish 
conquest, comprised about sixteen thousand 
square leagues, and Humboldt states in one 
passage of his Essai Politique sur le Royaume 
de Nouvelle Espagne, that its greatest extent 
covered an area of from eighteen to twenty 
thousand leagues, but these figures included the 
neighbouring kingdom of Mechoacan, which was 
not subject to Montezuma. The boundaries of 
the empire were estimated by historians of the 
conquest, who based their calculations on the 
tribute rolls in picture-writings but its limits 
cannot be fixed with certainty. Senor Alaman 
states that it extended from one ocean to the 
other and was bounded on the south by the 

43 



44 Fernando Cortes 

Zacatula Kiver and that" its western frontier did 
not extend beyond Tula, while the mountain 
chain of Paehuca formed its northern limit.^ 
The central valley of Mexico, at an altitude of 
more than seven thousand feet above the sea- 
level, has a circumference, according to Hum- 
boldt, of about sixty-seven leagues, shut in by 
stupendous mountain ranges whose principal 
peaks are the now extinct volcanoes of Popo- 
catepetl and Ixtaccihuatl. One tenth of its 
extent was covered by five lakes of which the 
largest was the salt-water lake of Tezcoco. 

The different tribes or nations of Anahuac 
came, according to their several traditions, from 
the north-west, in a series of migrations, but of 
their original starting point, they preserved no 
clear record. M. de Guigne presents proofs 
tending to show that the Chinese visited Mexico 
as early as 458 a.d., Horn,- Scherer,^ Humboldt.^ 
and other authorities, assign an Asiatic origin 
to the Toltecs and other Mexican peoples. That 
Mexico received settlers from other parts of the 
world, seems also certain. Aristotle ^ relates 
that Carthaginian sailors passed the Pillars of 
Hercules and, after sailing sixty days to the 
west, reached a beautiful and fertile country, 

1 Disertaciones, i. 

- De originibus Americanis, 1699. 

3 Recherches Historiques. 

■* Essai Politique. 

5 De admirandis in natura. 



Montezuma and His Empire 45 

and tliat so many began to go tliitlier that tlie 
Senate of Cartilage passed a law suppressing 
sucli emigration, to prevent the depopulation of 
the city. 

The efforts to graft Mexican civilisation onto 
an Asiatic or African stock have not been en- 
tirely successful, for, while there undoubtedly 
exist points of striking similarity, these seem to 
be counterbalanced by still more important 
divergencies. The paucity of positive data or 
even coherent traditions, has left a wide field 
open to speculation, of which many learned and 
ingenious seekers have availed themselves to the 
fullest extent, but without achieving results 
commensurate with their labours. Without at- 
tempting a thorough search into the racial 
origin of the tribes, which Cortes found in the 
valley of Mexico, it may be briefly stated that 
the best evidence before us points to Yucatan as 
the culminating centre of American civilisation, 
from whence a knowledge of law, arts, and 
manufactures, and the influence of an organised 
religious system spread northwards. 

The splendid ruins of Yucatan and Central 
America attest the existence of a race of people, 
which, whatever its origin, w^as isolated from 
European and Asiatic influence alike, since an 
epoch which it is impossible to fix, but which 
was certainly very remote. This race — the 
Maya — possessed a civilisation, sui generis^ and 
entirely unique on the North American con- 



46 Fernando Cortes 

tinent, the focus of wliicli liad already shifted 
to the high valley of Mexico, long before the 
Spaniards first visited the country in the six- 
teenth century, leaving the towns of Uxmal, 
Palenque, Utatlan, and the others in the south- 
ern region, in ruins. What devastating influ- 
ences produced this movement of an entire 
people, is not known, and the length of time 
occupied by it, is problematical, though it must 
have extended over centuries, ebbing and flow- 
ing intermittently. The conflicting traditions 
as to the direction from which tribes, law-givers, 
and priests arrived in Anahuac are doubtless 
owing to distinct movements, at different times, 
of the southern peoples, in their wandering 
search for a new and permanent abiding place. 
These early migrations from south to north, 
were succeeded, during the period, commonly 
termed the Middle Ages, by a counter-movement, 
and the northern tribes began to return south- 
wards, conquering the different peoples they 
encountered. Although some of the peoples had 
preserved much of the culture bequeathed them 
by their forefathers, there was no uniform 
civilisation existing among them, save in the 
case of the Toltecs. 

The Toltecs left their country called Hue- 
huetlapallan, in the vague north-west, in the 
year 554 a.d. and, after one hundred and four 
years of migratory life, founded the city of 
Tollantzinco in 658, whence they again moved 



Montezuma and His Empire 47 

in 667 to Tula, or Tollan; it is from tliis date 
that their monarchy which lasted three hundred 
and eighty-four years, is reckoned.^ According 
to Torquemada, the Chichimecas followed within 
nine years after the extinction of the Toltec 
sovereignty, but Clavigero's calculation shows 
the improbability of this, for several reasons, 
the most convincing of which is the incredible 
chronology of their kings. Torquemada says 
that Xolotl reigned 113 years, his son lived to be 
170 and his grandson 101 years old, while another 
king, Tezozomoc reigned 180 years! It is ob- 
vious that the Chichimeca period must either be 
shortened or the number of kings increased. 
After the Chichimecas^ came the six tribes of 
Tlascala, Xochimilco, Acolhua (Texcoco) Tepa- 
nec, Chalco, and Tlahuichco, closely followed by 
the Colhuas or Mexicans, who first arrived at 
Tula in 1196 and, after several shorter migra- 
tions, founded Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1325. 
The last tribe to come was that of the Ottomies, 
in 1420. Boturini believed that the tribes of 
Xicalango and the Olemchs antedated the Tol- 
tecs, but says that no records or picture-writings 
explaining their origin were discoverable in his 
time. From the foundation of Mexico, the form 
of government was aristocratic till 1352, when, 
according to Torquemada's interpretation of 
their picture-writings, the first king, Acama- 

1 Clavigei'o, Storia del Messico, vol. iv. 



48 Fernando Cortes 

patzin, eighth predecessor of Montezuma II. was 
elected and reigned for thirty-seven years. 

The Aztec civilisation which attained its high- 
est development in Tenochtitlan and Texcoco, 
never reached the level of the Maya culture, 
nor did its cities contain any such admirable 
buildings as those of which the ruins still delight 
and mystify the traveller in Yucatan and Central 
America. Outside its few centres of learning 
and luxury, the numerous tribes under Monte- 
zuma's rule were dwellers in caves, living by the 
chase and in no way sharing the benefits of 
the Aztec polity. In morals and manners, the 
Aztecs were inferior to the Toltecs and, though 
they adopted and continued the civilisation of 
their predecessors, they were devoid of their 
intellectual and artistic qualities and turned 
their attention more to war and commerce, as 
the surest means for riveting their supremacy 
on their neighbours. When Cortes arrived, 
Texcoco and Tlacopan, though still calling 
themselves independent and ruled by sovereigns 
who claimed equality with Montezuma, were 
rapidly sinking into a condition of vassalage. 
The Aztec religion was likewise of a militant 
order; it was polytheistic and readily admitted 
the gods of conquered or allied nations into 
its pantheon. Upon the milder cult of the older 
religious systems they had adopted, these de- 
votees of the war-god speedily grafted their own 
horrible practices of human sacrifices, which 



Montezuma and His Empire 49 

augmented in number and ferocity until the 
temples became veritable cliarneL liguses. Witk 
such a barbarous religious system draining their 
very life's blood and a relentless despotism 
daily encroaching on their liberties, it is small 
wonder that Cortes was hailed as a liberator 
by the subject peoples of Mexico. 

The name of Mexico signifies habitation of 
the god of war, Mexitli — otherwise known as 
Huitzilopochtli. The name Ten^chtitlan sig- 
nifies a cactus on a rock^ and was given to the 
new city because the choice of the site was de- 
cided by the augurs beholding an eagle perched 
upon a cactus that grew on a rock, and holding 
a serpent in its talons. The emblem of the 
cactus and the eagle holding a serpent became 
the national standard of Mexico and is dis- 
played in the coat of arms of the present 
Republic. 

The two islands of Tenochtitlan and Tlate- 
lolco stood in the salt waters of the lake of 
Texcoco, separated from one another by a 
narrow channel of water, and in the beginning 
Tlatelolco had its separate chief; but in the 
reign of Axayacatl, the last king of Tlatelolco, 

1 Both Fernando Ramirez and Eufemio Mendoza have 
pronounced against this etymology of the word: another 
derivation is from Tenoch, the chief of the founders, and 
tetl, meaning a stone. I have followed Clavigero {Sto7'ia 
del Messico, torn, i., p. 168), and Prescott {Conquest of 
Mexico, tom, i., cap. i). 



50 Fernando Cortes 

called Moquihuix, was overtlirown, and the 
islands afterwards became united and formed 
one city with a single ruler. The city was 
joined to the mainland by three great causeways, 
so solidly built of earth and stone and having 
draw-bridges to span the canals which crossed 
them, as to excite the admiration of the Span- 
iards. The northern causeway, from the Tlate- 
lolco quarter, extended for three miles to Tepeac, 
where stands the present shrine of Guadelupe; 
the causeway reaching to Tlacopan (Tacuba) 
was two miles long and the southern road, by 
which the Spaniards entered, extended for seven 
miles to Itztapalapan, with a division at the small 
fortress of Xoloc, where one branch diverged to 
Coyohuacan and hence caused Cortes to men- 
tion four causeways, which, strictly speaking, 
was correct.^ While the width of these splen- 
did roads varied, Clavigero says that all were 
wide enough for ten horsemen to ride abreast.- 
All the earlier authorities practically agree 
in numbering the city's iDopulation at sixty thou- 
sand households, — by an obvious error the Anon- 
ymous Conqueror speaks of sixty thousand 
people which should, of course, be families. 
Zuazo, Gomara, Motolinia, Peter Martyr, Clavi- 
gero, and others give this estimate, hence it may 
be safely stated that the city's population was 

' 1 Robertson erroneously speaks of a causeway leading 
to Texcoco. 

" Storia del Messico, vol. iii., lib. ix. 








MEXICO BEFORE THE CONQUEST 
FROM "CORTES'S LETTERS," PUBLISHED IN 1524 



Montezuma and His Empire 51 

not less than three hundred thousand souls. 
Very contradictory appreciations of the beauty 
of the Aztec capital, the grandeur of its build- 
ings and the merits of its architecture have been 
given by different writers. Prescott's marvel- 
lous picture of the ancient city is familiar to 
all readers of American history, and hardly less 
well known and rivalling the American his- 
torian's delightful pages, are the chapters of 
Sir Arthur Helps, praised by Ruskin for their 
" beautiful quiet English," in which he com- 
pares Mexico to Thebes, Nineveh, and Babylon, 
among the great cities of antiquity and to Con- 
stantinople, Venice, and Granada among those 
of modern times, not hesitating to declare that 
it was " at that time the fairest in the world 
and has never since been equalled.^ 

The distinguished Mexican scholar, Seiior 
Alaman,^ expresses his conviction that the city 
of Mexico contained no buildings of beauty or 
merit; that, aside from the royal palaces, the 
rest of the houses were adobe huts, among which 
rose the squat, truncated pyramids of the tem- 
ples, unlovely to behold, decorated with rude 
sculptures of serpents and other horrible figures, 
and having heaps of human skulls piled up in 
their courtyards. He sustains this dreary appre- 
ciation by the argument that there would other- 
wise have remained some fragments of former 

'^ Her nan Cortes, p. 108. 

2 Disertaciones, torn, i., p. 184. 



52 Fernando Cortes 

arcLitectural magnificence, whereas, there is ab- 
solutely nothing. These eminent writers seem 
unwilling to admit that Tenochtitlan may have 
been a wonderfully beautiful city and^ at the 
same time, have possessed few imposing buildings 
and no remarkable architecture. The descrip- 
tions of Mr. Prescott and Sir Arthur Helps are 
masterpieces of word-painting that charm us, 
but they are based upon early descriptions, in 
which undue importance is given to architect- 
ural features of the city. It is, as Seiior 
Alaman remarks, impossible that not a fragment 
of column or capital, statue or architrave, should 
have been saved to attest the existence of great 
architectural monuments, even though one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand men were diligently en- 
gaged for two months in destroying the build- 
ings, filling up canals with the debris, and that 
finally, when the city came to be rebuilt, many 
idols and other large fragments of temples, 
were used in the foundations of the cathedral, 
which rose on the site of the great teocalli. 

Palaces, such as Montezuma's was described 
by the Spaniards, may be vast in extent, with 
beautiful courts, gardens, and audience halls; 
they may be luxurious, and filled with curious 
and beautiful objects, but they add little to the 
picturesque or imposing appearance of a capital. 
The temples were sufficiently numerous, but 
none seem to have been lofty, and even the 
principal teocalli had but one hundred and 



Montezuma and His Empire 53 

fourteen steps, so that its height was only re- 
markable by comparison with the great stretch 
of low, flat-roofed houses about it. Cortes 
describes to Charles V. the destruction of the 
city day by day, which he sincerely deplored as 
necessary to subdue it, but he does not mention 
any one building which he sought to save or 
whose destruction caused him special regret, as 
he must infallibly have done had he been burn- 
ing an Alhambra or a Doge's palace, or been 
forced to blow up a Santa Sophia. It seems 
impossible that any one should seriously pre- 
tend that the waters of Texcoco's lake mirrored 
such f agades as are reflected in the canals of 
Venice, or that there was a Rialto among the 
bridges, so hotly contested by the Spaniards. 
Orozco y Berra wisely reproves the comparison 
which Alaman draws between Mexico and Kome, 
as notoriously unjust. But between the daz- 
zling word-pictures of Prescott and Helps on 
the one hand, and on the other, Alaman's de- 
pressing sketch of a squalid town of hovels, 
inhabited by bloodthirsty cannibals, there is still 
room for a beautiful city in which dwelt a 
sovereign, amidst surroundings of interesting 
splendour.^ 

1 An entire school of present day investigators rejects 
the descriptions of Mexico, given by the early writers as 
entirely fanciful, and asserts that the city presented few- 
points of superiority to an ordinary Indian pueblo of New 
Mexico or Arizona. Repudiation of what has come down 



54 Fernando Cortes 

Even without conscious intention to mislead, 
it was inevitable that the Spaniards should fall 
into exaggeration in describing the city of Mex- 
ico: first, because they necessarily used the 
same terms to portray what they saw, as they 
would have used in describing Rome, Paris, or 
Constantinople; second, because the contrast 
between such Indian towns as they had seen 
and the capital was undoubtedly very great, 
and their long years of rough life, perilous voy- 
ages, and the absence, at times, even of shelter 
from the elements, made any large town where 
some system of order reigned and where there 
were houses having court-yards, gardens, and 
embroidered hangings, seem worthy to be com- 
pared with great cities, elsewhere seen, and 
dimly remembered; and, lastly, because Mexico 
was unquestionably a very beautiful city. It 
could hardly be otherwise in such a situation, 
and the Spaniards, not stopping to analyse 
wherein its charms lay, fell into the easy error 
of attributing them to architectural excellence 
and grandeur, which were really wanting. 

The very ignorance and naivete of the con- 
querors are good warrants for the truth of much 

to us from numerous observers, who contradicted one an- 
other about ahnost everything else but were in general 
accord concerning the aspect of the capital, its arts and 
degi'ee of civilisation, assumes the existence of something 
resembling a conspiracy of misrepresentation among the 
early Spanish writers. 



Montezuma and His Empire 55 

that they wrote, for, as they were illiterate 
men (even Cortes had but a scanty store of 
learning gathered during his brief course of 
two careless years at Salamanca) devoid of suffi- 
cient knowledge to invent and describe the 
Mexican ' laws, customs, religion, and institu- 
tions, the facts they state and in which they 
agree, are indubitable. The Aztec Empire pos- 
sessed some highly developed institutions; to 
mention but one, there was the system of couri- 
ers or the post, which kept up daily and rapid 
communications between the capital and the 
provinces, and that, at a time, when no country 
in Europe possessed anything equalling it. 
Their religion was established with a regular 
hierarchy, and a calendar of festivals, which 
were observed with a really admirable ritual, 
marred only by the barbarity of certain rites. 
Their deities were gloomy and ferocious; fear 
was the motive of worship, human sacrifice the 
onl}^ means of placating the gods, and thus relig- 
ion, which should soften and humanise manners 
and elevate character, was engulfed in a dread- 
ful superstition tliat held the nation in a state 
of permanent degradation, with the result that 
the most civilised amongst the Indians of North 
America were, at the same time, the most bar- 
barous. The perfect ordering of this system 
impressed the Spaniards, while its awful rites 
horrified them. 

The state was well ordered, and in many 



56 Fernando Cortes 

respects was governed according to wise and 
enlightened standards. Tlie rights of private 
property were recognised and respected, its 
transfer being effected by sale or inheritance. 
All free men were land-owners, either by ab- 
solute possession or by usufruct derived from 
holding some public office in the state, and these 
composed the nobility; others held land in com- 
munity, parcels being allotted to a given number 
of families whose members worked them in 
common and shared their produce equitably. 
Taxes were levied according to an established 
system and were paid in kind, thus filling the 
government store-houses with vast accumula- 
tions of all the products of the empire. Justice 
was administered by regularly appointed judges, 
who interpreted the laws and exercised juris- 
diction in their respective districts. 

The city possessed two large market-places, 
where all the natural and manufactured pro- 
ducts of the country were brought for exchange. 
Cortes's description of the regulations govern- 
ing these markets contained in his Second Letter 
of Kelation to Charles V. reads not unlike an 
account of the great fair of Nishni-Novgorod, 
even in our times. The streets were regularly 
cleaned, lighted by fires at night and patrolled 
by police; public sanitary arrangements were 
provided and the city was probably more spa- 
cious, cleaner, and healthier than any European 
toAvn of that time. Public charity provided 




MEXICAN CALENDAR STONE 



Montezuma and His Empire 57 

hospitals for the sick and aged and these insti- 
tutions were in charge of the same clergy who 
murdered and devoured their fellow-men! 

Separate arts and trades flourished, and the 
metal-workers, lapidaries, w^eavers, and others 
perfected themselves by a regular system of 
instruction and apprenticeship pretty much as 
in the guilds of Europe. The great public 
works, such as the causeways, aqueducts, canals 
with locks and bridges, were admirably con- 
structed and, in the neighbourhood of the 
capital, were numerous. There was a fair know- 
ledge of the medicinal and curative properties 
of herbs, barks, roots, and plants though, if the 
medicine men were skilled in the use of poisons, 
it seems strange that they did not rid themselves 
of the hungry invaders of their country at some 
of the feasts that were constantly offered them. 

In the arts, the lapidaries, feather workers, 
and silversmits produced the best work. Mex- 
ican paintings, judged as works of art, are crude 
and primitive enough, but their real value and 
interest lie in the fact that they are chronicles 
in picture-writing, of which, unfortunately, too 
few have been preserved; ideas were rarely and 
imperfectly represented by this method, which 
was only serviceable for recording material facts. 
Music was the least developed of all the arts. 
Their solar system was more correct than that 
of the Greeks and Romans. The year was di- 
vided into eighteen months, of twenty days each, 



58 Fernando Cortes 

with five complementary days added, wliicli were 
holidays, but were considered unlucky, especially 
as birthdays.^ There were regularly graduated 
social classes, the lowest being composed of 
peasant-serfs, called mayeques, who were bound 
to the land; above them came ascending grades 
until we reach the emperor at the top of all. 
Three features characteristic of the feudal sys- 
tem everywhere, were found. An .overlord su- 
preme in the central government, whose standard 
all followed in war and whose authority and 
person were regarded as semi-divine. Prac- 
tically independent nobles or chiefs of tribes, 
levying their own taxes, holding peoples and 
cities in subjection, transmitting their titles by 
right of inheritance and ready to contend with 
the emperor himself on questions of etiquette 
and precedence. Many of them were his kins- 
men and all were allied amongst themselves, 
thus forming an aristocracy of rank and power. 
Finally, a people reduced to practical serfage. 
Sumptuary laws prescribed the dress of the 
different orders, and the regulations governing 
court-dress for different occasions were rigidly 
enforced; all removed their sandals in the em- 
peror's presence, and even the greatest nobles 
covered their ornaments with a plain mantle 
when they appeared before him. The Aztec 
language was extremely polite and contained, 

1 Orozco y Berra, Hist. Antigua, lib. iv. 



Montezuma and His Empire 59 

not only titles, but many ceremonious phrases 
of respect, and expressions of courtesy and de- 
ference. The crown descended in the same fam- 
ily, but a council of six electors, chosen during 
the life-time of the sovereign, met immediately 
after his death and elected a successor from 
among the eligible princes of the royal family. 

Alongside these indications of an advanced 
civilisation are found several others which show 
a nation still in its infancy. They did not 
know the use of wax or oil for lighting purposes 
and they used no milk. They had no coinage; 
cacao nuts were commonly used as a standard 
of value and also gold dust, put up in quills, 
but usually commodities were exchanged. Saha- 
gun mentions a sort of coin which the Mexicans 
called quahtli or eagle, but he does not describe 
it. Montezuma paid his losses at play with the 
Spaniards, in chips of gold, each of the value 
of fifty ducats; this i^iece was called tejuele but 
it does not certainly appear to have been a coin. 
There was no system of phonetic writing. They 
kept no domestic animals save rabbits, turkeys, 
and little dogs, all of which they ate. Their 
only cereal was maize and they had no beasts 
of burden. They knew neither iron, nor tin, 
nor lead, though the mountains were full of 
them, and their only hard metal was copi)er. 

Even from the summary and incomplete in- 
dications here given, it may be seen that the 
Aztec state possessed many excellent insti- 



6o Fernando Cortes 

tutions and the elements of an advanced civili- 
sation and, despite the coexistence of certain 
limitations which have led some to doubt the 
development claimed for them, our interest in 
the origin and history of the mysterious races 
of Anahuac is stimulated to wonder and admira- 
tion, for what we do know of their empire, and 
to boundless regret for the disappearance of all, 
save the few vestiges which remain to excite a 
curiosity they are inadequate to appease. 

It is not required to endow Mexico with " the 
glory that was Greece and the grandeur that 
was Rome," in order to admit that it was 
beautiful. 

In the year 1519 when Cortes undertook the 
invasion and conquest of this empire, its throne 
was occupied by Montezuma Xocoyotzin, one of 
the six sons of the King Axayacatl, who was 
unanimously chosen by the electors to succeed 
his uncle, Ahuitzotl. The eligible princes, in 
that instance, were his own five brothers and 
the seven sons of the deceased emperor. 
Montezuma II. assumed the appelation of 
Xocoyotzin upon his accession, signifying 
" younger," to distinguish him from the elder, 
Montezuma Ilhuicamina. Prescott gives his 
age as twenty-three at the time of the election, 
in 1502, but I prefer to follow the authority of 
the Tezozomoc MS. given in Orozco y Berra, 
which states that he was born in 1468 and was 
hence thirty-four years old. 




ca\7?lto hall orwl» 
;kvtoiialmessi<x} 



MONTEZUMA 

FROM AN ILLUSTRATION IN MONTANIUS AND OGILBY 



' Montezuma and His Empire 6i 

His early career was that of a successful 
soldier, from which he passed into the priest- 
hood, rising to the high grade of pontiff. At 
that time he was held in great veneration by the 
people as one who received revelations from the 
gods, and his strict life was a model to his 
fellows. It is related that, when the news of 
his election to the imperial throne was brought 
to him, he was found sweeping the steps of the 
temple whose altars he served. His tempera- 
ment was theocratic, he ruled sternly, and ill- 
brooked opposition or even counsel, but he was 
princely in recompensing faithful service. He 
had greatly embellished his capital, but the 
liberality that built an aqueduct, an hospital, 
and new temples in the city, cost the subject pro- 
vinces dear, and Montezuma, being both despotic 
and a heavy tax-levier, was more feared than 
loved by his people and allies. Loving order, 
he understood the science of government, but 
his finer qualities were marred by his inordinate 
pride, and most of all by the ferocious supersti- 
tion which finally lost him his throne and his 
life. 

The appearance of the ships of Cordoba and 
Grijalba, and the fighting in Yucatan were 
quickly reported to Montezuma, whose super- 
stitious mind was so effected by events in which 
he saw the disasters to himself and his people 
foretold by Quetzalcoatl, that his first impulse 
was to save himself by some enchantment or 



62 Fernando Cortes 

incantation which should translate him to 
the abode, or WalhaUa, of the famous kings and 
demi-gods of antiquity. The simultaneous ap- 
parition of a great comet in the sky, confirmed 
these forebodings and he gave himself entirely 
into the hands of his diviners or necromancers, 
who exercised all their resources of interpreting 
dreams, reading signs in natural phenomena 
and studying the heavens, to obtain directions 
for their sovereign in his perplexity. Many, 
whose dreams presaged evil, were starved to 
death or put to tortures ; a reign of terror set in 
and none dared to speak in the sovereign's pres- 
ence, while the prisons were full of luckless magi- 
cians, and death penalties were inflicted even 
upon their families in the provinces.^ 

As the proofs of the presence of the white 
strangers in their floating houses accumulated, 
despite Montezuma's reluctance to believe the 
reports which were repeatedly brought to him, 
he fell into a state of profound depression 
and, despairing of warding off the ominous 
visitors, he ordered costly gifts to be especially 
made, and he sent two envoys, Teutlamacazqui 
and Cuitlalpitoc to Pinotl, governor of Cuet- 
lachtla, commanding him to provide in every way 
for the reception and entertainment of the sup- 
posed celestial guests. After the departure of 
Grijalba's men, the fears of Montezuma some 

1 Duran, cap. Iviii. Tezozomoc apud Orozco y Berra, 
torn, iv., cap. ii. 



Montezuma and His Empire 63 

what subsided and he persuaded himself that 
he had staved off the impending disaster. The 
governor of the coast provinces, however, had 
strict orders to keep watch and to immediately 
report any further appearance of the fearsome 
strangers. 

The way for the conquest was already pre- 
pared and both the Aztec historians and the 
earliest Spanish authorities record, that for 
a number of years the belief that the hour of the 
empire's dissolution was at hand, had been 
steadily gaining ground, promoted by several 
events which were regarded as supernatural 
warnings of the approaching downfall. The 
lake of Texcoco had risen suddenly in 1510 and 
inundated the city, without any visible cause 
or accompanying earthquakes or tempest; one 
of the towers of the great toecalli was destroyed 
in 1511 by a mysterious conflagration, that re- 
sisted all efforts to extinguish it; comets, strange 
lights in the skies, accompanied by shooting- 
stars and weird noises were all interpreted by 
the astrologers as portents of gloomy presage. 
The miraculous resurrection, three days after 
her death, of the princess Papantzin, Monte- 
zuma's sister, who brought him a prophetic 
warning from her tomb, is reported at length 
by Clavigero.^ Legal proofs of this event, whicli 
occurred in 1509, were afterwards forwarded to 

1 Storia del Messico, vol. i., p. 289. 



64 Fernando Cortes 

the court of Eome. The princess is said to have 
lived for many years afterwards and to have 
been the first person to receive Christian bap- 
tism in Tlatelolco (1524), being henceforth 
known as Doiia Ana Papantzin. Whatever may 
have been the exact nature of this occurrence, 
the reported miracle doubtless rests upon some 
fact which was interpreted by the Mexicans as 
supernatural. 

Quetzalcoatl, whose dark prophecy above re- 
ferred to, cast a shadow of apprehension over 
the glory of the Aztec sovereignty, was a Toltec 
deity, and was venerated as the god of the air, 
more especially identified with the east wind 
that brought the fertilising rains. He figures 
in different times and places, as a mortal man, 
a deified legislator and as a primitive divinity, 
thus rendering it difficult to separate the my- 
thical from the real in his history. In Yucatan 
he was known under the name of Kukulcan, 
the etymology of which is identical in meaning 
with QuetzalU-Cohuatl, signifying a plumed ser- 
pent. The story of his residence amongst the 
Toltecs relates that he appeared as the chief 
of a band of strangers coming from unknown 
parts. He was larger than the Toltec men, 
white-faced and bearded. He wore a long white 
tunic, on which were black or dark-red crosses, 
which sounds something like a pallium. He 
taught the new religious virtues of chastity, 
charity, and penance; his religion was mono- 



Montezuma and His Empire 65 

theistic, and he condemned war and forbade 
human sacrifices. He instructed the natives in 
the arts of agriculture, architecture, metal work, 
and mechanics; he also brought the Toltec 
calendar to the degree of perfection in which 
it was found among the Aztecs. The halcyon 
period of peace and plenty initiated by his bene- 
ficient influence came to a mysteriously sudden 
end and Quetzatcoatl left Tollan, accompanied 
by a small band of followers, for Cholula. There 
he remained for a period of twenty years, after 
which he descended towards the seacoast where, 
according to one legend, the waves opened be- 
fore his steps to allow him to pass, while 
according to another, he seated himself upon a 
raft composed of serpents and, spreading his 
mantle as a sail, was wafted away to the un- 
known east. A third version of his end repre- 
sents him as ascending his own funeral pyre, 
and as the flames and smoke rose, his heart in 
the form of a star was seen to mount into the 
skies where it became the planet Venus. 

The identity of Quetzalcoatl remains an un- 
solved mystery. So numerous and striking were 
the analogies to Christian teachings presented 
by the Mexican beliefs and ritual, that the con- 
viction has obtained amongst many, that this 
mysterious personage was no other than a 
Christian priest or bishop. The Mexican tra- 
ditions concerning his appearance amongst the 
Toltecs, his teachings, his miracles, and his 



66 Fernando Cortes 

final disappearance, seem to be hopelessly inter- 
Yvoven with legends of other deities; his per- 
sonality became merged in that of other myth- 
ical characters, with a plumed serpent for his 
emblem; but there still remained a sufficient 
number of intelligible and authentic doctrines 
and practices traceable to him, to argue their 
Christian origin. Quetzalcoatl was feared by 
the Aztecs because of the wide-spread belief in 
the prophecy attributed to him, that one day 
he, or his descendants, would return to reclaim 
his rightful heritage and establish his dominion 
over the land. He was to return as an avenger, 
hence the object of the cult paid him was to 
propitiate his wrath, though the rites celebrated 
in his honour did violence to his humane teach- 
ings. The description of the bearded white men 
who had arrived on his coasts in winged and 
floating houses, persuaded Montezuma that the 
second coming of Quetzalcoatl was at hand. 
Within the inflexible circuit of his superstitions, 
his tormented soul turned and turned in hope- 
less perplexity. Restrained by his fears, he did 
not dare to use his power to crush the handful 
of strangers who troubled the peace of his 
realm. His royal allies and nobles were called 
into daily council from which no decision issued. 
The greater number were of the opinion that 
if the strangers were gods, it was useless to 
resist them; if they came as envoys of a foreign 
sovereign, they should be received as such, while 



Montezuma and His Empire 67 

if they showed hostile intentions, they could he 
easily crushed at the emperor's convenience. 
Only CuitlahuaCj the lord of Itztapalapan, with 
prophetic foresight dissented from this view and 
urged the immediate destruction of the unbidden 
guests before they could work the nation any 
evil. 



CHAPTER III 

ALLIES OF THE SPANIARDS 

Arrival at San Juan de Ulua — Marina — Embassies from 

Monteztuma — Founding of Vera Cruz — At Cempoalla 

Missionary Methods 

FOUR days were employed by the voyage 
from Tabasco to San Juan de Ulna, during 
whicb time those of the officers and men who 
had accompanied the previous expeditions along 
that coast under Hernandez de Cordoba, or 
Grijalba, were busy recognising and pointing 
out to their companions the different places 
familiar to them. 

Puertocarrero while listening to these remi- 
niscences recalled an old ballad of Montesinos : 

Oata Francia, Montesinos, 
Cata Paris la Ciudad, 
Cata las aguas del Duero, 
Do van k dar en la mar.i 

1 Here is France, Montesinos, 
And here the city of Paris, 
Here flow the waters of Duero, 
On their way to the sea. 
A popular song of those times, which is published in 
Duran's Romances Caballerescos y Historioos. 

68 



Allies of the Spaniards 69 

Turning to Cortes he added: "But I say, you 
should look for rich lands and know how to 
rule them." Cortes answered : " May God give 
us such fortune in warfare as to the paladin 
Roland, and as for the rest, with such knights 
as you and these gentlemen for my companions, 
I shall know very well what to do." 

The ships cast anchor at San Juan de Ulua 
on Holy Thursday the twenty-first of April at 
midday.^ The pilot Alaminos chose a favour- 
able anchorage, where the vessels would be 
protected from the norther, a wind much dreaded 
of mariners on those seas. Many Indians were 
seen crowding the shores, and within half an 
hour two large canoes filled with people put off 
and approached the commander's ship. They 
asked by signs to see the chief, for Aguilar 
knew no Mexican, and the Maya tongue was 
not intelligible to the Indians. The Spaniards 
made out that their visitors had been sent by 
the governor of the province to inquire who 
they were and whether they intended to remain 
there or to proceed farther. The Indians were 
invited on board and regaled with food and 
wine, and it was explained to them that the 
Spaniards would land the following day; the 
visit concluded with a friendly exchange of 
the usual presents and the natives left as they 
had come.^ 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xxxvi. 

2 Gomara, Cronica, cap. xxv. ; Bernal Diaz, cap xxxviii. 



70 Fernando Cortes 

On Good Friday the Spaniards landed and 
formed a camp. The land along the coast was 
level, save for some low hills formed by the 
drifting sands that were constantly shifted by 
the frequent northers. Cortes placed his bat- 
teries in such wise as to defend his camp 
from possible attack, though the Indians were 
most friendly and helped his men in building 
huts, felling trees, and other necessary labour, 
besides supplying woven mats, cotton hangings, 
and carpets of their own manufacture. The 
site was a badly chosen one, for it was low 
and was surrounded by stagnant swamps that 
bred malaria. Another pest, from which there 
was no escape by day or night, was the insects. 
Every creature that crawls or flies, or buzzes, 
bites and stings, infested the coast. The na- 
tives supplied the camp with turkeys, fish, and 
various dishes of their own cooking, besides 
fruits and vegetables of the country, some of 
which the Spaniards tasted for the first time. 

On Easter Sunday, an embassy from Monte- 
zuma, composed of Teuhtlili, the governor of 
Cuetlaxtla, and Cuitlalpitoc, who had before 
visited Grijalba in the same capacity, arrived 
in the camp. About four thousand persons, 
including some men of rank and the attendants 
who carried Montezuma's gifts to Cortes, ac- 
companied tlie envoys. Approaching Cortes 
with much ceremony tlie ambassadors salaamed 
three times, after their fashion, touching the 



Allies of the Spaniards 71 

earth witli their hands and afterwards kissing 
them; they next incensed him, an act of homage 
they offered to their deities, their sovereign, 
and to persons of the very highest ranli. Cortes 
responded becomingly to these demonstrations 
of respect, but before beginning to treat with 
the envoys, Fray Bartolome de Olmedo said 
mass, at which the Aztecs assisted with grave 
interest. 

Difficulty had already been experienced in 
communicating with the men who had visited 
the ships three clays "before, as Geronimo de 
Aguilar was unable to comprehend the Mexican 
speech. It was opportunely discovered that 
one of the slave women presented by the cacique 
of Tabasco was a native Mexican, and, having 
been in captivity in that province, she could 
speak the Maya language. She was thus able 
to understand Aguilar, who, in turn, trans- 
lated into Spanish for Cortes. This woman, 
Marina by name, was the daughter of a chieftain 
of Painalla, whose unnatural mother had con- 
tracted a second marriage after her first hus- 
band's death and had consented to sell her 
daughter into slavery in order to transfer her 
inheritance to a son of her second marriage. 
Marina was delivered to some traders of Xical- 
ango, who afterwards sold her in the province 
of Tabasco. Her family name was Tenepal and 
her Indian name, Malinal, was derived from 
MalinalU which is the sign of the twelfth day 



72 Fernando Cortes 

of the Mexican month; thus her Christian name' 
in baptism, Marina, was really derived from, 
or suggested by, her original Indian name. As 
the Indians could not pronounce the letter R 
there was practically no change of name, save 
that in her new and important position they 
gave her the tzin, which was a ti^le of respect, 
and henceforth she was called Malintzin. The 
Spaniards corrupted this into Malinche and 
Cortes became universally known as the caiDtain 
of Malinche. In the distribution of women at 
Tabasco, Marina had fallen to Puertocarrero, 
but when her value as an interpreter was dis- 
covered, she was promoted to the tent of Cortes, 
and Puertocarrero left shortly afterwards for 
Spain bearing the first letters and gifts to the 
Emperor. Marina became indispensable and 
all-powerful. She was unusually intelligent 
and quickly learned Castilian, so that iiguilar's 
intervention was no longer required and she 
alone acted as intermediary between the Span- 
iards and the Mexicans. She dispensed peace 
or war at her j)leasure and held the fate of 
both parties in her hand. How faithfully and 
disinterestedly she played her part, we have no 
means of judging. She gave herself entirely to 
the Spaniards and was devotedly attached to 
Cortes, but whether she dealt fairly with the 
Indians in her handling of the important nego- 
tiations she conducted, may be doubted. Ber- 
nal Diaz declares that she was so capable that 



Allies of the Spaniards 73 

they all held her to be like no other woman 
on earth, and that they never detected the 
smallest feminine weakness in her.^ 

On the memorable occasion of the first inter- 
view between Cortes and the envoys of Monte- 
zuma, Marina was instructed to explain that 
the Spaniards were subjects of the greatest and 
most powerful sovereign in the world, by name 
Don Carlos, whom many kings and princes held 
it an honour to serve as his vassals. As their 
monarch had long known of Montezuma's great- 
ness, he had finally sent his envoy to enter into 
friendly relations with him, and in token of 
his good-will had sent him certain gifts. Cor- 
tes therefore begged that Montezuma would 
signify when and where he would receive him. 

The Aztec envoys listened in perplexed sur- 
prise to this discourse, and to the request for 
an audience Teuhtlili somewhat haughtily ex- 
claimed : " You have hardly arrived here and 
you already want to speak to the Emperor." - 
He then signed to the bearers to bring forward 
the gifts, which consisted of mantles of the 
finest cotton textures, almost rivalling silk in 
their delicate colouring and finish; articles of 
the marvellous feather-work, of such exquisite 
workmanship that it was hardly distinguishable 

^ Hist. Verdad., cap. xxxvii., xxxviii.; Ixtlilxochitl, Hist- 
toria Chichimeca, cap. Ixxix. ; Diego Camargo, Historia de 
Tlascala. 

- Bernal Diaz, cap. xxxviii. 



74 Fernando Cortes 

from the finest embroidery or painting, and 
certain ornaments of wrought gold. In ex- 
change for these royal presents, Cortes delivered 
to the ambassadors a carved and painted arm- 
chair, a crimson cap, on which was a gold 
medal of St, George and the dragon, and a num- 
ber of collars and other ornaments of glass 
beads. He arranged a display of cavalry 
manoeuvres and caused the artillery to be dis- 
charged, all of which made an obvious im- 
pression on the envoys. There were several 
artists present, engaged in painting, on cloth, 
pictures of all they saw, especially the portraits 
of Cortes, Marina, and the negro slaves, to be 
shown to Montezuma. Teuhtlili observed that 
the gilt helmet of a soldier resembled the oue 
worn by the Aztec Avar-god, Huitzilopochtli, and 
desired that Montezuma should see it. In giv- 
ing it to him, Cortes asked that it might be 
returned to him full of gold-dust, to be sent to 
his sovereign Charles V. Although Teuhtlili 
discouraged all hope of Montezuma's admitting 
Cortes to his presence, he took his departure 
amicably, promising to return in a few days 
with the monarch's decision. 

Montezuma, who was kept informed by daily 
couriers of what was happening in the Spanish 
camp, still hesitated between the two courses 
open to him. He continued to consult magi- 
cians, whom he summoned from Yauhtepec, 
Cuauhnahuac, Malinalco, and other towns of his 



Allies of the Spaniards 75 

dominions, but tlie oracles delivered by these 
seers appear to have been as nebulous as such 
utterances usually are, and the Emperor ended 
by adopting two conflicting policies. Fearing 
that the strangers, whom he held to be demi- 
gods, would advance to his capital in spite of his 
prohibition, he gave orders for every honour to 
be shown them and for all their wants to be 
generously supplied. Simultaneously, he di- 
rected the magicians to proceed to the coast 
and, by the power of their incantations, to turn 
the invaders from their purpose and influence 
them to quit the country. The journey of these 
gifted men proved a fruitless expedition, and they 
returned to the capital to report that, as their 
charms and exorcisms produced no effect, the 
white men must be deities of a very superior 
order. ^ 

Meanwhile Teuhtlili also returned bringing 
the presents from Cortes. UiDon hearing that 
the latter persisted in his desire to visit the 
capital, Montezuma was more than ever per- 
turbed, convinced that the fulfilment of Quetz- 
alcoatl's prophecy was at hand. The only one 
of his counsellors who still advised resistance 
was Cuitlahuac, lord of Itztapalapan, who pro- 
nounced these prophetic words : " It seems to 
me, my lord, that you should not admit to your 
house one who will drive you out of it." ^ This 

1 Tezozomoc, cap. ex. ; Duran, cap. Ixxi. 

- Ixtlilxochitl, Historia Chichi'meca, cap. Ixxx. 



76 Fernando Cortes 

counsel prevailed and Teulitlili was again de- 
spatched to the coast, accompanied this time by 
a man who was thought to bear a striking re- 
semblance to Cortes, Judging from the pictures 
drawn by the Emperor's artists. That the re- 
semblance existed is proven by the fact that, 
on the man's appearance in camp, the Spaniards 
at once detected and commented on the like- 
ness. Bernal Diaz calls this man Quintalbor^ 
but he became later known as the Mexican 
Cortes. 

The embassy was conducted with the same 
formalities and was accorded the same reception 
as on the former visit. More presents from 
Montezuma were offered, amongst which tv/o 
pieces of the metal-worker's craft excited special 
admiration. One was a golden sun, elaborately 
decorated with scroll figures and representations 
of certain animals, probably the signs of the 
Mexican zodiac, that weighed more than ten 
marks. The other was a similar piece of silver, 
representing the moon, and weighing fifty 
marks.^ They are described as being as large 
around as carriage wheels, and the Spaniards 
estimated their value at twenty-five thousand 

1 Senor Clemencin, sometime secretary of the Royal 
Academy of History, has carefully computed the values 
of the different Spanish coins of the period. The casfel- 
lano, according to his estimate, was equivalent to eleven 
dollars and sixty-seven cents of American money. The 
silver mark was equal to eight ounces. 



Allies of the Spaniards 77 

castellanos' wortli of metal alone, exclusive of 
the marvellous workmanship, that would double 
their value in any market of Europe.^ The 
soldier's gilt helmet was also returned filled 
with the desired gold-dust. 

The message from Montezuma, though veiled 
in smooth language, was equivalent to a posi- 
tive refusal to allow the Spaniards to approach 
his capital. He professed himself highly pleased 
to have news of such a great monarch as the 
King of Spain, and to enjoy his friendship and, 
as a proof of his satisfaction, he would be glad 
to provide the Spaniards with everything they 
required as long as they remained in his do- 
minions. Teuhtlili concluded by saying, that, 
as Montezuma could neither descend to the 
coast nor could Cortes, on account of the many 
obstacles which he enumerated, make the long 
and perilous voyage to the capital, it would be 
impossible for his sovereign to receive him. 

If Montezuma was a past master in the arts 
of diplomacy, Cortes was no less skilful in dis- 
simulating. He accepted the presents, giving 
some of his usual trifles in return, and quietly 
reiterated his demand for an audience of the 
Aztec sovereign. He reminded Teuhtlili that, 
having crossed so many leagues of ocean for the 
sole purpose of delivering his King's message, 

1 Herrera, dec. ii., lib. v., cap. v.; Torquemada, lib. iv., 
cap. xvii.; Bernal Diaz, cap. xxxix.; Gomara, cap. xxvii.; 
First Letter of delation. 



78 Fernando Cortes 

he was not to be deterred by the difficulties of 
a journey overland to the cai^ital, nor would 
he dare to return without having accomplished 
the mission on which he had been sent. The 
unfortunate envoy reluctantly agreed to carry 
this message to Montezuma, while his companion, 
Cuitlalpitoc, remained in the Spanish camp to 
superintend the daily supply of necessary 
provisions. 

The discomforts of the camp increased as the 
month of May advanced, and some thirty men 
had already died. Cortes therefore despatched 
Francisco de Montejo and the pilots, Anton de 
Alaminos and Juan Alvarez, with two vessels, 
to seek a more sheltered harbour for the ships 
and a more salubrious site for a permanent 
settlement. During the ten or twelve days' 
absence of this expedition a most significant 
and illuminating event occurred in the Spanish 
camp. Prince Ixtlilxochitl, the i)retender to 
the throne of Texcoco, secretly sent his agents 
to welcome Cortes and offer him the customary 
presents. The emissaries of the ambitious pre- 
tender acquainted Cortes with the discordant 
state of affairs in the Aztec empire, soliciting 
his help to overthrow the tyrant and liberate the 
enslaved peoples.^ Other malcontents also fur- 
nished him, at this time, with exact informa- 
tion concerning the position of the capital and 

1 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, cap. Ixxx. 



Allies of the Spaniards 79 

tlie approaches to it, explaining to him, by- 
means of ancient picture-writings, tlie prophecy 
of Quetzalcoatl, and voicing the complaints of 
those provinces that had been subjected by force 
to Montezuma's rule and only waited a pro- 
pitious occasion to free themselves from his 
oppression.^ With consummate patience, Cortes 
collected information from these and other 
sources that made him master of the situation, 
and his plan for conquest was being carefully 
and sagaciously formed while his followers 
wrangled over the division of the spoils, in- 
dulged in desultory trading with the natives, 
and were absorbed in the usual trifling occu- 
pations of an idle camp. 

A noticeable change took place in the dis- 
position of the Indians; provisions suddenly 
became scarcer and dearer. Within eight or 
ten days after his departure, Teuhtlili reap- 
peared bringing more presents and four large 
green stones resembling emeralds, which were 
highly esteemed by the natives, but were of 
small intrinsic value. Bernal Diaz estimated 
the value of the gold brought at this time, at 
three thousand pesos. The message from Mon- 
tezuma was a flat refusal to receive Cortes or 
to permit him to advance: Montezuma de- 
clined to receive or send any further messages 
on the subject. 

1 Orozco y Berra, Conquista de Mexico, torn, iv., p. 139. 



8o Fernando Cortes 

While Teuhtlili was in camp, the Angelus 
rang out, and the Spaniards uncovered and 
knelt to recite the customary prayers before the 
wooden cross they had set up. In response to 
the envoy's inquiry as to the meaning of this 
devotion, Cortes directed Fray Bartolome to 
explain the doctrines of the Catholic faith to 
the Mexicans. The friar's discourse was lucid 
and exhaustive, and at its close he presented 
Teuhtlili with a cross and a small image of the 
Blessed Virgin and Child, which he asked him 
to deliver to Montezuma, and to explain to the 
Emperor the sense of what he had just i)reached. 
Teuhtlili promised to do this and left the camp 
for the last time that same evening. The next 
morning the Spaniards found themselves aban- 
doned, all the Indians having disappeared in 
the night, leaving them destitute of provisions.^ 

The sudden disappearance of the Indians from 
the camp, besides cutting off the supplies, roused 
apprehensions that a hostile attack was im- 
minent. Strict attention was paid to the de- 
fences, and the Spaniards were constantly on 
the alert against a possible surprise. Their 
fears were not realised however, and three days 
after the departure of Teuhtlili, five strange 
Indians, wearing an entirely different dress 
from the Mexicans, appeared in camp saying 

1 First Letter of Relation: Bernal Diaz, cap. xi.; 
Gomara, cap. xxvii. ; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xviii. 




y u"^(u a «j= °Ji o-S o- 




Allies of the Spaniards 8i 

ttey belonged to the tribe or nation of the Toto- 
nacs and had been sent from their chief city 
of Cempoalla by their ruler to seek the friend- 
ship of Cortes. Two of the five spoke the Nahua 
or Aztec tongue, so the conversation was carried 
on through Marina. The Totonacs said they 
would have come sooner but for fear of the 
Mexicans, who had only recently conquered their 
country and held them in subjection. They 
proposed an alliance with Cortes, by whose aid 
they hoped to throw off the Mexican yoke. 
Cortes received them kindly, listened attentively 
to all they told him, and, after informing him- 
self concerning the exact whereabouts and the 
resources of their country, he dismissed them 
with presents for their chief, saying he would 
soon come to Cempoalla to visit them. 

Montejo and his companions had returned 
after an absence of twelve days, and reported 
that they had found a better harbour and a more 
suitable position for the camp, where there 
was plenty of fresh water. This place was some 
twelve leagues to the north of San Juan de 
Ulua, in the vicinity of a town called Quiahu- 
iztla, and thither Cortes gave orders to transport 
the camp. 

This order was not received with unanimous 
approval, and proved the signal for an outbreak 
of the dissension that had for some time been 
silently brewing in the camp. The men were 
divided into two parties, one of which was in 

6 



82 Fernando Cortes 

favour of scrupulously fulfilling tlie instructions 
of Diego Velasquez and of returning to Cuba 
with what treasure they had collected. The 
other group, though doubtless unconscious of 
the schemes forming in the brain of Cortes, was 
in favour of establishing a permanent colony 
and, in any event, was ready to follow their 
commander.i The position of Cortes was no 
easy one; even the valuable spoil he had col- 
lected, if turned over to Velasquez, would not 
suffice to appease his resentment, while such a 
proceeding would leave him ruined, both in 
fortune and reputation. The glimpse he had 
obtained of the wealth of Mexico, and his in- 
creasing knowledge of the weakness of Monte- 
zuma's state, encouraged a daring project of 
conquest which he hoped to successfully carry 
out. By uniting to himself all the rebellious 
and discontented elements in the empire and 
boldly raising the standard of revolt, native 
allies would flock to him. 

The case as stated by the partisans of Velas- 
quez was the common-sense one. They claimed 
that the expedition had been sent by the gov- 
ernor's authority, fitted out largely with his 
money, for certain defined purposes. These 
purposes had been achieved as far as it was 
possible to accomplish them and, thus far, his 
instructions had been obeyed. The course laid 
down had been followed, the Spauisli prisoners 
in Yucatan had been found, the Gospel had 



Allies of the Spaniards 83 

been preached in various places to the natives, 
with whom profitable trading relations were 
established, and they had amassed an imposing 
quantity of treasure which it was now their 
duty to carry back to Cuba. They urged that 
thirty-five men were dead of wounds and the 
pestilential climate, that others were ill, while 
all were without provisions and exposed to the 
certainty of an attack by the Mexicans, who 
had doubtless retired for the sole purpose of 
uniting an overwhelming force to crush them. 
They demanded that the expedition should 
return to Cuba at once. 

Cortes replied to these representations with 
great moderation. His opinion was that they 
would be ill-advised to abandon the country now 
that they had obtained a foothold in it; it was 
necessary to explore somewhat farther, so as to 
make a satisfactory report concerning the land, 
its resources, and its inhabitants. As for the 
loss of thirty odd men, he reminded them that 
this was a suprisingly small number, since in 
all warfare some must fall, and that they should 
rather thank God for His protection. The want 
of provisions need alarm no one, for there was 
always plenty of maize in the fields near by. 
The well-pondered words and the calm manner 
of the leader somewhat tranquillised the grow- 
ing agitation and even won him some adherents; 
Puertocarrero, the Alvarado brothers. Olid, Es- 
calante, Avila, and Francisco de Lugo, who 



84 Fernando Cortes 

were the chief partisans of Cortes, worked 
secretly amongst the soldiers to win them to 
their views. Their principal argument was an 
appeal to the soldiers' past experience of the 
cupidity of Diego Velasquez, reminding them 
that he invariably took the lion's share of every- 
thing for himself, leaving the men who had 
risked their lives in perilous adventures as poor 
as they were in the beginning. This, they as- 
sured the soldiers, would repeat itself if they 
were to return now to Cuba with the treasure 
they had collected. They proposed, therefore, 
that a permanent settlement should be founded, 
of which Cortes should be elected captain by 
a popular vote. The partisans of Velasquez 
were not slow to hear of these manceuvres and 
promptly presented themselves in a body before 
the commander, demanding that the original 
instructions of the governor be fulfilled to the 
letter. Cortes replied that he would on no ac- 
count disobey his superior's orders, and forth- 
with commanded the ships to be got ready for 
everybody to embark the next day for Cuba. 

Such ready compliance nonplussed the friends 
of Velasquez and left them in a state of per- 
plexity, for, having so easily obtained what they 
asked, they were no longer so sure that they 
wanted it. The adherents of Cortes then shifted 
their ground. They held a conference in which 
it was declared that, as Spaniards, their first 
duty was to their King; as they already held 



Allies of the Spaniards 85 

practical possession, in the royal name, of a 
strip of rich coast-lancl, over which the banner 
of Castile floated, the^^ were bound to secure it 
and, instead of returning to Cuba where Velas- 
quez and Cortes would merely divide the profits 
of the expedition between themselves, they 
should found a town and establish the King's 
jurisdiction in this new^ country. They forth- 
with entered a counter-protest to the com- 
mander, declaring that the service of God and 
of the King forbade the abandonment of the 
country, and formally demanding that he, as 
captain of the expedition, should found a settle- 
ment and name the necessary municipal officers 
from amongst them according to Spanish cus- 
tom; in case of a refusal, their intention was 
to denounce him to the King. Cortes deferred 
his answer until the following day. It was 
difficult for the Opposing party to combat the 
high patriotic and religious stand their ad- 
versaries had adroitly taken, nor does it appear 
that any open attempt was made to do so. The 
conversion of the Indians to the true faith, the 
extension of His Majesty's dominions — these 
were high purposes which it would ill-become 
good Catholics and loyal subjects to oppose. 

At the appointed hour on the following day, 
the last act of this historic comedy was gravely 
performed. Addressing the assembled men, 
Cortes declared that his sole wish was to serve 
his sovereigns, at no matter what cost or Ipss 

\ 



86 Fernando Cortes 

to himself; lie felt bound to accede to the will 
of the majority of the members of the expedi- 
tion and he therefore proceeded to appoint the 
necessary of&cers of justice to carry on the 
government of the new colony. Alonso Her- 
nandez Puertocarrero and Francisco de Montejo 
were named alcaldes; Juan de Escalante, al- 
guacil mayor; Cristobal de Olid, quartermaster- 
general; Alonso Alvarez, procurator-general; 
Gonzalo Mexia, treasurer; Alonso de Avila, 
accountant; Pedro and Alonso de Alvarado, 
Alonso de Avila, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, re- 
gidors; Diego Godoy as notary. The elaborate 
name of Villa Kica de la Vera Cruz ^ was 
given to the new settlement, the " rica " being 
suggested by the rich character of the soil and 
the " Vera Cruz " by the date of their landing, 
which was a Good Friday, a day when the holy 
cross is especially venerated. ' 

The legal formalities so scrupulously observed 
were a trifle farcical in this particular instance, 
and Cortes doubtless listened to the reading of 
the " requirements " with a solemn exterior, but 
with his tongue in his cheek. He resigned the 
authority he had received from Velasquez, the 
royal governor of Cuba, into the hands of 
the municipal authorities he had himself, in re- 
sponse to the popular demand, appointed, and 
who thereby likewise became royal officials, 

i"Rich City of the True Cross." 



Allies of the Spaniards 87 

They in their turn exercised their newly ac- 
quired powers, to elect him captain-general and 
chief justice of the new colony and thus, by due 
form of law, Cortes found himself, within twenty- 
four hours after his abdication, installed as the 
recognised dispenser of civil justice and as 
military commander. He showed a becoming 
reluctance to accept the nomination and finally 
had all the appearance of yielding to an irre- 
sistible expression of the pojjular will. Bernal 
Diaz quotes to the point an old Spanish pro- 
verb : " Tu mi lo ruegas y yo mi lo quiero." ^ 

The partisans of Velasquez, though in a minor- 
ity, still argued that the election was irregular, 
because they had not taken part in it, nor had 
it been confirmed either by the Jeronymite 
fathers or the governor of Cuba. This incipient 
sedition was characteristically met, by Cortes 
offering as many as were dissatisfied, permission 
to re-embark and return to Cuba, while he 
demonstrated the reality of the new state of 
things, by ordering the arrest of Juan Velas- 
quez, Diego de Ordaz, Pedro Escudero, and 
others of the more active agitators, who were 
forthwith imprisoned on the captain's ship. 
This drastic move had the desired effect on the 
waverers.^ 

1 Literally " You ask me to do what I want to do." 

2 First Letter of Relation: Bernal Diaz, cap. xlii.; 
Gomara, cap. xxx. ; Las Casas, lib. iii., cap. cxxii.; Tor- 
quemada, lib. iv., cap. xviii. 



88 Fernando Cortes 

In the distribution of the municipal offices, 
Cortes was careful to include several of the 
men of the opposing faction. Pedro de Alva- 
rado was despatched inland with one hundred 
men, ostensibly to collect provisions, but also 
to divide the forces of the malcontents by 
eliminating some of them temporarily from the 
camp. This detachment visited several places 
in the government of Cuetlaxtla, where they 
discovered on all sides evidences of recent hu- 
man sacrifices. The inhabitants almost invari- 
ably abandoned their villages on the approach 
of the Spaniards and fled. A goodly supply of 
grain and other j)rovisions was obtained and 
the expedition was welcomed back to camp, 
where its members regaled their companions 
with accounts of the horrible vestiges of canni- 
balism they had seen.^ 

During the absence of these men, Cortes had 
employed his most engaging arts to win over 
his opponents. The last to hold out were Diego 
de Ordaz, and Juan Velasquez de Leon, who 
was a kinsman of Diego Velasquez. With the 
final adhesion of these two, all open dissension 
ceased and Cortes was undisputed master of the 
situation. He carried out his purpose of trans- 
porting the settlement to the site recommended 
by Montejo, sending the sick and wounded on 
board the ships, which also carried the heavy 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xliv. 



Allies of the Spaniards 89 

guns and provisions, wliile lie, at tlie head of 
some four hundred men, marched northwards 
along the sandy beach. Leaving these dreary 
wastes, the expedition gradually advanced into 
the rich, rolling country behind Vera Cruz, 
where forests of palms afforded a grateful pro- 
tection from the tropical sun. Amidst the dark 
foliage of these virgin forests, gorgeous orchids 
and flowering creepers vie in the brilliancy of 
their colouring with the gaily plumaged birds 
of the parrot species which inhabit the dense 
world of verdure overhead. Game abounded 
and those of the men whose exuberant forces 
were not exhausted by the fatigues of the march, 
even engaged In chasing the deer, which roamed 
in herds through sylvan defiles and over verdant 
uplands. 

The country was found to be everywhere de- 
serted, but the evidences of human sacrifices 
and cannibal feasts were frequent. During the 
march, twelve Indians of the Totonacs appeared, 
bringing provisions and reiterating their ca- 
cique's invitation to visit him at Cempoalla. 
Cortes received these overtures with satisfaction 
and sent six of the messengers back to announce 
his acceptance of the invitation, while the other 
six remained to act as guides. Just before 
reaching the town, twenty of the principal citi- 
zens came out to receive Cortes, saying that 
their chief was unable to come in person, but 
was awaiting his arrival in the town. One of 



90 Fernando Cortes 

the Spanish horsemen who had ridden ahead, 
came galloping back and announced in great 
excitement that the walls of the houses of the 
city were all of silver. Gomara observes that, 
in the excited state of their imaginations, every- 
thing that glistened in the sun seemed to the 
Spaniards gold or silver. 

The town was en fete for the entrance of the 
guests, and its streets were thronged with peo- 
ple, both men and women, who mixed with the 
Spaniards without a sign of fear. Both sexes 
were dressed in garments of coloured cotton 
stuffs, the men wearing loin-cloths and long 
mantles, somewhat in the Moorish style, while 
many of the women of the upper classes were 
arrayed in embroidered and painted draperies 
that fell in graceful folds from the neck to the 
feet; ornaments of gold were common, and the 
beautiful head-dress of many coloured plumes 
and the profusion of flowers, for which the In- 
dians cherished the highest appreciation, served 
to enhance the natural beauties of form and 
feature, which all early visitors to America 
ascribe to the inhabitants. The cacique ap- 
peared at the entrance of his palace, supported 
by two attendants, for he was so fat he could 
hardly walk alone. The Spaniards nicknamed 
him el cacique gordo or the fat chief. After 
the customary incensing and salutations, Cortes 
embraced the cacique, who made a speech of 
welcome. The Spaniards were lodged in the 



Allies of the Spaniards 91 

temples and served with an elaborate repast.^ 
Notwithstanding this friendly reception, Cortes 
took the iDrecaution of having his guns in readi- 
ness for any possible emergency and of strictly 
forbidding any of his men to leave their quarters 
or to separate themselves from the others. 

The cacique offered his guest a modest pres- 
ent, meekly apologising for its poverty by say- 
ing that it was all he had. The difftculties of 
communication were doubled, for the conversa- 
tion passed from Sioanish into Maya, thence into 
Nahua or Mexican, and finally into the Totonac 
language, but it seems not to have been less 
intelligible or satisfactory on that account. 
Cortes graciously accepted the cacique's gift 
and said that in return for it he would gladly 
render him what services he could, for he came 
there as the envoy of the most powerful mon- 
arch in the world to administer justice, punish 
tyrants, and to abolish human sacrifices. The 
cacique needed no further encouragement to 
disclose his grievances against Montezuma, who 
tyrannised over him and his ])eo])le, and afflicted 
them with numberless vexations. He received 
the assurance that the days of such tyranny 
were now past, and that as soon as the new 
settlement at Quiahuiztla was established, the 
Spaniards would return to Cempoalla and help 



1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xlv. ; Gomara, Cronica, cap. xxxii.; 
Herrera, dec. ii., lib. v., cap. viii. 



92 Fernando Cortes 

liim to regain his independence. In tlie First 
Letter of Relation to Charles V., the town of 
Cempoalla ^ is described as the best one the 
Spaniards had thus far seen. The houses, built 
of stone and mortar, stood amidst well-cultivated 
gardens and some of them had several spacious 
courtyards. The Spaniards were so delighted 
with the place that they compared it to Seville 
for size and to Villaviciosa for its luxuriant 
vegetation and abundance of fruit. 

After a stop of only one day in these pleasant 
surroundings, Cortes took leave of his new ally 
and continued his march towards the site of 
the new settlement. The cacique supplied four 
hundred men to carry the heavy baggage, for 
tliere were no beasts of burden in Mexico and 
loads of all kinds were carried by men. Upon 
liis arrival at Quiahuiztla, it was found that 
the inhabitants had fled, but fifteen priests 
issued from the chief temple to incense Cortes, 
and, as it soon appeared that nothing was to 
be apprehended from the strangers, the people 
returned and Cortes addressed them on his 
usual theme, explaining the grandeur of the 
Spanish King and the doctrines of Christianity, 
exhorting them to become vassals of Spain and 
good Catholics. The cacique of Cempoalla was 
evidently plagued by some misgivings after the 

1 Cempohualla is given by some authorities as the more 
correct spelling but this name is found, as are all other 
Mexican proper names, with every variety of spelling. 



Allies of the Spaniards 93 

departure of the Spaniards, lest their promised 
assistance should fail him, for while Cortes and. 
the cacique of Quiahuiztla were conversing in 
the public square, messengers arrived to say 
that the cacique of Cempoalla was approaching. 
They were closely followed by the chief himself, 
who was carried on the shoulders of numerous 
attendants. Both rulers then rehearsed their 
grievances against Montezuma: not only were 
exorbitant taxes levied by cruel means, but a 
tribute of their young men was exacted for the 
temple sacrifices in Mexico, and of their fairest 
young women to grace the harems of the 
Emperor and his confederate kings. 

Even while this discussion was proceeding, 
Montezuma's tax-collectors entered Quiahu- 
iztla. These awe-inspiring officials wore a red 
filet in their hair, indicating their rank, and 
from their shoulders gorgeously coloured man- 
tles hung to their feet. Both caciques hastened 
to receive them and to order suitable quarters 
prepared for their occupancy. Five in number, 
the tax-collectors walked haughtily past the 
Spaniards without deigning to cast a glance 
towards them, smelling the roses they carried 
in their hands, wliile their attendants sheltered 
them with huge fans of beautiful feathers. 

The two caciques were summoned into the 
presence of these imperial officials, sharply re- 
buked for having received the Spaniards con- 
trary to the Emperor's wishes, and, as a penalty 



94 Fernando Cortes 

for such disobedience, twenty persons were de- 
manded as a propitiatory sacrifice to the offended 
deities.^ Although the country through which 
the Spaniards had marched seemed to them to 
be deserted, they were closely followed by spies, 
their every movement watched and reported by 
couriers to Montezuma; nor is it likely that the 
overtures of the cacique of Cempoalla to Cortes 
were kept secret from the Mexican sovereign. 
The tax-collectors w^ere acting on explicit orders 
from the capital, and in their open disdain of 
the Spaniards might be read the proof that 
Montezuma had adopted a hostile policy. At 
this turn of affairs, Cortes executed a daring- 
stroke of diplomacy that displayed both the 
readiness of his invention and the strategic 
foresight he j^ossessed in such a conspicuous de- 
gree. Informed by Marina of what was haj)- 
pening, he called the caciques before him, and 
reminding them that his sovereign had sent him 
thither to punish injustice and suppress human 
sacrifices, he ordered them not only to refuse 
the tAventy persons exacted for sacrifice, but 
to immediately imprison the five tax-gatherers. 
The dismay of the caciques was such that, at 
first they could not conceive of such a daring 
outrage on the persons of the Emperor's repre- 
sentatives, but as Cortes remained inflexible, 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xlvi. ; Gomara, Cronica, cap xxxiv. ; 
Herrera, dec. ii., lib. v., cap. x.; Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., 
cap. vii. 



Allies of the Spaniards 95 

the high-handed act was accomplished, one of 
the olH-cers who resisted being even beaten. 
After this there was no turning back for the 
two caciques. They advanced rapidly on the 
road of rebellion and assented readily enough to 
their new counsellor's second suggestion, which 
was to publish an edict throughout their ter- 
ritories declaring that no more taxes were to 
be paid to Montezuma. The news of these revo- 
lutionary events spread rapidly throughout the 
empire, for the attendants of the tax-collectors 
had been allowed to escape when their masters 
were seized. Stupefaction greeted the news 
wherever it was published, and the edicts of the 
two rebellious caciques were listened to by ears 
that could scarcely trust their own hearing. 
Knowing full well that two small chieftains on 
the outskirts of the empire would never of 
themselves dare to so flout the mighty Emperor, 
it was universally agreed that such acts could 
only proceed from gods. From henceforward 
the Spaniards were given the name of teules/- 
or gods. 

Having pushed the two caciques into open 
rebellion, and holding five high offlcers of the 
empire in his power, Cortes played his next 
move in the game. He opposed the intention 
of the Totonacs to kill the tax-collectors, and 
had two of the prisoners, who were closely 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xlvii. 



96 Fernando Cortes 

guarded by a mixed watch of Spaniards and 
Indians, brought before him secretly at night, 
without the knowledge of the Indian guards. 
Feigning ignorance of wliat had happened, he 
asked who they were and why they were held 
prisoners. The tax-gatherers answered that 
without his help the caciques would never have 
dared to lay hands on them. Cortes declared 
himself ignorant of the occurrence and greatly 
afflicted by their misfortune. He invited them 
to supper, which, after their prison fare, was 
doubtless acceptable to the dainty, rose-smelling 
gentlemen, accustomed to high living. During 
the meal he assured them he would arrange 
their escape in order that they might carry to 
Montezuma the assurance of his friendship. He 
added that had the Mexicans not abandoned the 
Spaniards, leaving them without provisions, the 
latter would never have visited the Totonacs. 
He urged them to fly at once and save them- 
selves from death ; as for their companions, he 
would likewise xDrotect them from the caciques' 
murderous desires and, in due time, would find 
an opportunity to secure their release. The 
officers were not slow to act on such acceptable 
counsel, in fact Cortes provided men to row 
them across to a spot on the coast outside the 
boundaries of Cempoalla. Two messengers who 
owed him their lives were thus despatched to 
Montezuma with flattering assurances of good- 
will, while three others remained as hostages. 



Allies of the Spaniards 97 

The escape of two of the prisoners decided 
the caciques to sacrifice the remaining three, but 
Cortes again intervened, reproving them sharply 
for the carelessness of their guards, and, under 
pretext of rendering the flight of the others im- 
possible, he put them in chains and sent them 
on board one of his ships. Once there, he threw 
all the blame upon the caciques, explaining to 
his prisoners that he had used the only possible 
means to rescue them, and promising to send 
them safely back to Mexico. It was obvious to 
the three Mexicans that he had saved them from 
the sacrificial stone ; whether they penetrated his 
motives or not, does not appear.^ 

A conference composed of the caciques of 
Cempoalla and Quiahuiztla, and of other neigh- 
bouring chiefs who had been summoned, was 
then held to decide on their course of future 
action. The offence committed was beyond par- 
don, and from the Mexicans no mercy was to 
be hoped. Cortes pointed out to them the diffi- 
culties of their situation and advised them to 
ponder well their decision. Two oj)inions de- 
clared themselves in the conference, one in fa- 
vour of throwing themselves on the Emperor's 
mercy, and offering reparation for the outrage, 
while the other was for a supreme struggle for 
independence, relying on the assistance of the 
teules to win. The latter opinion prevailed. 

^ Solis, Conquista de Mexico, lib. ii., cap. ix. 

7 



98 Fernando Cortes 

Before committing himself to the proffered al- 
liance, Cortes was assured by the caciques that 
the united Totonacs could put one hundred 
thousand warriors in the field, a number ex- 
actly double his own estimate made later. 

The standard of revolt was raised through- 
out the country, obedience to Montezuma was 
thrown off, and the further payment of tribute 
was refused. The caciques acknowledged them- 
selves as the vassals of the King of Spain and 
the public notary, Diego Godoy, drew up the 
ratifications of the alliance.^ The foundations 
of the new city of Vera Cruz were laid, and 
Cortes not only drew the plan of the town, but 
set an example to his men by labouring with 
his own hands at the construction of the build- 
ings. Large numbers of Indians were ready to 
assist the Spaniards, and within a few weeks a 
presentable counterpart of a Spanish town was 
ready for occuiDancy. It possessed a church, a 
store-house for ammunition, a fort or block- 
house for defence in case of hostile attack, a 
municipal building, and a sufficient number of 
dwellings to house the inhabitants. It was 
destined to serve as the point of contact with 
the Spanish colonies in the islands, and with 
Spain; as a store-house for supplies, and a re- 
fuge for the sick and wounded during the cam- 
paign against the Aztec capital. 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. xlvii.; Gomai'a, Cronica, cap. xxxvi.; 
Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., p. 158 (note). 



Allies of the Spaniards 99 

When the news of the outrage perpetrated on 
his tax-gatherers and of the insurrection in Cem- 
poalla reached Montezuma, his first resolution 
was to send a punitive force to chastise his 
vassals and destroy the Spaniards; had he put 
his intention into effect he would have found 
Cortes in a position of doubtful security, while 
the Totonacs, still wavering between their hopes 
of liberty on the one hand and their fears of 
Mexican vengeance on the other, would have 
proved but feeble allies. The arrival of the 
two liberated prisoners caused the Emperor to 
relapse into the perplexity that characterised 
all his dealings with the Spaniards. Instead 
of an armed expedition to bring the Totonacs 
into subjection, he despatched another embassy, 
composed of two of his young nephews and four 
older councillors, bearing fresh gifts to Cortes. 
Highly satisfied with these first fruits of his 
diplomacy, the Spanish commander received the 
envoys and the present, renewing his protesta- 
tions of regard towards Montezuma, and, as a 
proof of his sincerity, he delivered to them the 
three prisoners whom he still held on board liIs 
ship. When the question of the tribute due 
from the Totonacs and the punishment they 
merited for their rebellion was touched ui^on, 
Cortes answered that those provinces had passed 
under the jurisdiction and protection of the King 
of Spain and were henceforth freed from all 
obligation towards their former suzerain. He 



loo Fernando Cortes 

added that he hoped soon to visit Montezuma, 
when these matters would be further explained. 
The result of this exposition of weakness on the 
part of Montezuma was to confirm the Totonacs 
in their allegiance to the Spaniards, as they 
interpreted the consideration shown to Cortes 
as meaning that the Mexicans feared him. 

The missionary spirit of these pious adven- 
turers did not slumber, and as the authority of 
Cortes established itself more absolutely over 
the Totonacs, the moment for suppressing idola- 
try and converting the natives to Christianity 
seemed propitious. He had meanwhile sup- 
ported the cacique in some skirmishes with his 
hostile neighbours and, on the return to Cem- 
poalla, the latter had presented eight young 
girls, daughters -of chiefs, to the Spanish cap- 
tains. Cortes profited by the occasion to de- 
clare that it was impossible for children of the 
true faith to accept pagan wonjen and that be- 
fore the Indian maidens could hope to share 
the companionship of his officers, they must 
renounce idolatry and become Christians. The 
parents of tlie girls seemed to view their con- 
version as an increased honour shown them, 
but when Cortes, presuming on the apparent 
indifference of th^ Indians to their religious 
belief, ordered the idols to be cast out and 
the temples purified for Christian worship, the 
cacique not only demurred but even assumed a 
threatening attitude. 



Allies of the Spaniards loi 

Whatever else may be doubted, the religious 
sincerity and moral courage of Fernando Cortes 
are above impeachment. He was a stranger to 
hypocrisy, which is a smug vice of cowards, and 
if his reasons for acts of policy, that cost many 
lives, may be deplored by the humane, the 
honesty of his convictions may be reasonably 
impugned by none. Had the influence of his 
faith on his morals been proportionate to its 
sincerity, he might have merited canonisation. 

Sixteenth-century Spain produced a race of 
Christian warriors whose piety, born of an in- 
tense realisation of, and love for a militant 
Christ, was of a martial complexion, beholding 
in the symbol of salvation — the Cross — the 
standard of Christendom around which the 
faithful must rally, and for whose protection 
and exaltation swords must be drawn and blood 
spilled if need be. They were the children of 
the generation which had expelled the last Moor 
from Spain, and had brought centuries of relig- 
ious and patriotic warfare to a triumphant 
close, in which their country was finally united 
under the crown of Castile. From such fore- 
bears the generation of Cortes received its 
heritage of Christian chivalry. The discovery 
of a new world, peopled by barbarians, opened 
a fresh field to Spanish missionary zeal, in 
which the kingdom of God upon earth was to 
be extended and countless souls rescued from 
the obscene idolatries and debasing: cannibalism 



I02 Fernando Cortes 

which enslaved them. This was the " white 
man's burden " which that century laid on 
Spaniards' shoulders. 

Whatever the risks were, Cortes took them. 
He seized the cacique and several of the priuci- 
X)al chiefs, ordering them to command their 
X)eople to remain quiet and admonishing them 
that the first hostile act would be the signal 
for their instant death. Marina went amongst 
the people, calming their resentment and re- 
calling the protection promised by the teules 
against the vengeance of Montezuma, an argu- 
ment that also went far towards restraining the 
cacique from forfeiting the friendship of his 
new allies, without whose help destruction would 
inevitably overtake him. The idols at Cem- 
poalla shared the fate of those at Cozumel and 
Tabasco, for, at a signal from the commander, 
fifty soldiers mounted the steps leading to the 
top of the pyramid on which the sanctuaries 
stood and, penetrating the blood-stained por- 
tals, they bore forth the hideous figures and 
hurled them to the bottom, where others were 
waiting to consign them to the flames. An altar 
was set uj) in the purified temple, mass was 
said, Fray Bartolome delivered an instruction 
to the natives, and the ceremonies terminated 
as usual with a procession, in which some of the 
Totonac priests, clad in wliite robes, carried 
lighted tapers before the statue of the Blessed 
Virgin. Most of all were the Indians amazed 



Allies of the Spaniards 103 

at the absence of any fulminating act of celes- 
tial vengeance on the desecrators of their gods, 
and evidences of the divine attributes of the 
Spaniards seemed to accumulate before their 
eyes. 

The cacique having triumphed over his enemies 
with the help of the Spaniards and peace being 
restored, Cortes prepared to return with his 
forces to Vera Cruz. Juan de Torres, an in- 
valided soldier, was left to guard the oratory 
at Cempoalla and to instruct the Totonacs in 
the observance of their new religion.^ 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. li., lii.; Gomara, cap. xliii.; Herrera, 
dec. ii., lib. v. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SHIPS 

Letters to Charles V.— The Velasquez Faction — Destruction 
of the Ships — The March to Mexico — The Republic of 
Tlascala 

THE first news that greeted the Spaniards on 
their return to Vera Cruz announced the 
arrival that same day of a vessel commanded 
by Francisco de Saucedo, having on board 
seventy soldiers and two horsemen.^ From 
Saucedo it was learned that Diego Velasquez 
had received the royal appointment of adelun- 
tado, with faculties to trade and colonise in the 
recently discovered countries. This last piece 
of intelligence gave Cortes material for serious 
reflection and obliged him to delay no further 
the necessary steps to obtain for his shaky 
authority some firmer foundation than the some- 
what equivocal legal sanctions conferred by the 
infant municipality of Vera Cruz. This news 
of the royal favour shown Velasquez was bound 
to revive the slumbering activity of his par- 
tisans in Vera Cruz, who had found themselves 
constrained by superior numbers to acquiesce in 
the changed plan of the expedition. Velasquez 

1 Gomara, cap. xxxviii.; Bernal Diaz, cap. liii. 
[04 



The Destruction of the Ships 105 

had friends at court, and would use every in- 
fluence at his disposal to secure the forcible 
recall and punishment of Cortes and his ad- 
herents, so there was no time to be lost, nor 
did his usual perspicacity and promptness of 
decision fail the commander in this emergency. 
He decided to forestall any report Velasquez 
might send to Spain, by writing to the young 
King a full account of his expedition and every- 
thing that had happened since he left Cuba, and 
to send his despatch by his own messengers to 
Spain. 1 The new arrivals were acceptable re- 

1 This letter has never been found and by some was 
believed to have been afterwards suppressed by the Coun- 
cil for the Indies at the instance of Panfilo de Narvaez, 
or to have been taken by the French pirate Jean de 
Florin from Alonzo de Avila, and thus prevented from 
reaching the Emperor. It bore the date of July 10, 1519, 
and left Vera Cruz on the 16th of that month with the 
two envoys, Alonso Hernandez Puertocarrero and Fran- 
cisco de Montejo. It was in duplicate, as was likewise 
the letter of the magistrates of the newly founded colony, 
which was shown to Cortes before it was sent. Bernal 
Diaz, who was one of the signers of the joint letter, says 
that Cortes had omitted from his own letter the account 
of the expeditions of Francisco de Cordoba and of Juan 
de Grijalba. The letter of Cortes and that of the magis- 
trates confirmed each other, as they were intended to do, 
and, according to Bernal Diaz, that of the magistrates 
was the more detailed of the two, hence it is, historically, 
the more valuable. The only important events which had 
happened up to that date, were the change in the char- 
acter and objects of the expedition, and the founding of 
Vera Cruz, and on these points Cortes and the magistrates 
were in perfect accord. 

The search for this missing letter having been given 



io6 Fernando Cortes 

inforcements to the little army and tlie opinion 
of the majority was in favour of no longer 
postponing the march into the interior. The 
municipal officers of the new colony who, it was 
evident, must stand or fall with Cortes, like- 
wise prepared a despatch or carta de relacion, 
addressed to the Queen, Doiia Juana, and the 
Emperor, Charles V., her son. To ensure a 
benevolent reception for these letters the truly 
heroic sacrifice of surrendering the entire treas- 
ure to the Emperor, instead of merely the royal 
fifth that belonged to him by right, was pro- 
posed to the members of the expedition. The 
officers consented at once, for they perceived 
that it was no time for half measures and, after 
putting the case before the men and explaining 
that by sending the whole amount an imposing 
present would be made up for the Emperor, a 

up in despair, it remained for the perspicacity of Dr. 
Robertson to divine that, as the Emperor was about leav- 
ing Spain for Germany at the time the envoys from Vera 
Cruz arrived with the letters, they might still be found 
in some of the imperial archives; he accordingly under- 
took a search, for which all necessary facilities were 
obtained by the British Ambassador in Vienna. His 
efforts were crowned with a dual success, in that a cer- 
tified copy by a notary public of the letter of the magis- 
ti'ates of Vera Cruz was discovered in the imperial 
archives, and, at the same time, the fifth letter of the 
Relaciones was also unearthed. The first letter appeared 
in print, for the first time, in the collection of inedited 
documents for Spanish history, published by Navarrete, 
in 1844, and from that time has taken its place in the 
complete series of five. 



The Destruction of the Ships 107 

paper was circulated, which all who were will- 
ing were invited to sign. No constraint, how- 
ever, was employed and any one who so desired, 
had but to claim his share, to receive it. The 
absolute ascendancy of Cortes over his men is 
demonstrated by the fact that not one refused 
his signature. A third letter to the Emperor 
was drawn up and signed by all the captains 
and men who were adherents of Cortes. Alonso 
Hernandez Puertocarrero and Francisco de 
Monte jo were chosen to bear these letters to 
Spain. 

After assisting at a mass, said by Fray Barto- 
lome de Olmedo, the two envoys sailed on July 
16, 1519, and they took with them the royal 
fifth of all the gold besides the other treasures. 
They were strictly enjoined to sail by the chan- 
nel of the Bahamas and to carefully avoid 
Cuba, but they disobeyed this warning and 

The entire series of the five letters has been printed 
in Spanish by Don Enrique de Vedia in Ribadeneyra's 
Biblioteca de Autores Classicos, in 1852. The five letters 
were published by Don Pascual Gayangos of the Span- 
ish Academy (Cartas de Hernan Cortes al Emperador 
Carlos v., Paris, 1866), who also made an English trans- 
lation of the fifth letter, which appeared alone in 1868 in 
a volume of the Hakluyt Society's publications. The 
five letters were published in a French translation by 
Desire Charnay in Paris, 1896, and an English edition of 
the entire series, preceded by a short biography and ac- 
companied by notes, was published by the author of the 
present work, under the title of Letters of Cortes to 
Charles Y., New York, 1908. 



io8 Fernando Cortes 

stopped several days at Marien, where Montejq 
had a property near by. They renewed their 
supplies at this place and showed some of the 
treasure to a servant, besides which, Montejo 
also wrote to a former overseer of his, Juan de 
Roja, who had meanwhile passed into Diego 
Velasquez's service. The governor thus learned 
of what was happening and promptly despatched 
a vessel to overhaul the messengers and bring 
them back, but he was too late. The envoys 
landed, early in October, 1519, but Benito 
Martin, a friend and agent of Velasquez, was 
already advised of their coming and lodged a 
complaint with the Casa de Contractacion in 
Seville, in which he described Cortes as a rebel 
against his superior's authority and asked for 
the arrest of the envoys and the sequestration 
of the letters and the treasure. He found a 
ready ally in Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, 
Bishop of Burgos, who, as President of the 
Royal Council for the Indies, was omnipotent, 
and was a warm friend and supporter of Velas- 
quez, with whose family his own was about to 
be connected by a marriage. 

Peter Martyr, who was then at court and 
noted every circumstance of interest, mentions 
the arrival of the two envoys in December as 
" recent," which might mean that he had only 
recently heard of it. All authorities agree that 
they got a rough reception from the Bishop of 
BurgoSj and only saw the Emperor in March, 



The Destruction of the Ships 109 

1520, after many difficulties. Tlie audience was 
at Tordesillas, where His Majesty was tlien pay- 
ing a visit to liis motlier, Doiia Juana, before 
proceeding to Santiago de Compostella. Peter 
Martyr, however, says that the Emperor had 
then already seen the gold and presents from 
Mexico, which confirms another authority, who 
states that while they were sto^iped by the 
Bishop in Seville, Martin Cortes, the father of 
Fernando, and an official of the Royal Council 
who was friendly, one Nunez, contrived to for- 
ward duplicates of the despatches to the Em- 
peror, accompanied by a memorial describing 
the Bishop's behaviour and his sequestration of 
the treasures. The Emperor was well impressed 
by the letters and ordered the gifts to be sent 
on to him. He was, however, so absorbed with 
business of importance prior to quitting the 
country for Germany to assume the imperial 
crown, that he left Tordesillas without giving 
a decision. The envoys followed him to La 
Coruiia, and there exists in the archives of 
Simancas the deposition given under oath be- 
fore Dr. Carbajal, member of the Royal Council 
for the Indies, by Alonso Hernandez Puerto- 
carrero dated, La Coruiia, April 30, 1520. The 
memorial of Benito Martin is found, according 
to Prescott, in the collection of MSS. made by 
Don Vargas Ponce, sometime president of the 
Spanish Academy of History. 
The departure of the two messengers from 



no Fernando Cortes 

Vera Cruz did not take place without opposition 
from the Velasquez faction, whose members 
revived their former complaints against the 
treacherous conduct of Cortes towards the gov- 
ernor of Cuba and even formed a plot to seize 
a brigantine, kill its captain, and escape to Cuba 
to inform Velasquez of the departure of the 
messengers carrying the treasure and the letters. 
Bernaldino de Coria, one of the conspirators, 
weakened at the last moment and betrayed the 
plot and those implicated to the commander. 
Cortes did not mince matters but promptly 
hanged Diego Cermeno, and Juan Escudero. 
The latter was the same alguacil who had cap- 
tured him before the church in Santiago, where 
he had taken sanctuary during his quarrel with 
Velasquez, and had imprisoned him on the ship 
in the harbour. Gonzalo de Umbria had his 
feet cut off, and two hundred lashes were ad- 
ministered to each of the others except the 
priest, Juan Diaz, whose cloth protected him. 
Bernal Diaz reports that Cortes exclaimed 
when he signed the warrant for these punish- 
ments, " Who would not rather be unable to 
write, than to have to sign away the lives of 
men ! " but the old soldier shrewdly adds, that 
he believes most judges, from the days of Nero 
down, have exj)ressed the same sentiment.^ 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ivii. ; Oviedo, Historia de las Indias, 
lib. xxxiii., cap. ii.; Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, lib. iii., 



The Destruction of the Ships m 

The discovery of such a conspiracy amongst 
his followers gave Cortes grave cause for pre- 
occupation, for it was manifestly impossible for 
him to set out on his great undertaking, with- 
out first assuring the loyalty of those he had to 
leave behind at Vera Cruz. It was clear that 
certain of the friends of Diego Velasquez merely 
bided their time, waiting and hoping for an 
opportunity to return to Cuba; others were im- 
pressed by the risks attending an expedition into 
an entirely unknown country where there was 
every reason to believe a dense and hostile popu- 
lation was preparing to dispute their advance. 
All were familiar with the fate awaiting prison- 
ers of war, and there were few who did not 
shudder at the possibility of ending their days 
on the sacrificial stone and furnishing the festal 
meats at cannibal feasts. Cortes perceived 
there was but one effectual means to prevent 
further plots, after the restraint of his presence 
was removed, and to involve the fate of each 
member of the expedition in his success or 
failure, and that was to cut off all possibility of 
escape by destroying his fleet. He first took 
the precaution of sending Pedro de Alvarado 
with a large part of the army on ahead to Cem- 

cap. cxii. Bernal Diaz refers to the passage in Suetonius 
recording an exclamation of Nero : " Et cum de suppli- 
cio cujusdam capite damnati, ut ex more subscriberet, ad- 
moneretur quam vellem, inquit, nescire litteras " (lib. vi., 
cap. X.). 



112 Fernando Cortes 

poalla, thus reducing the number of possible 
objectors to the contemplated measure. 

Thfe destruction of the ships is one of the 
most dramatic episodes in the eventful history 
of the conquest, and Cortes, in reporting it to 
the Emperor, assumecl exclusively the credit of 
the heroic decision and its execution, but 
throughout his narrative he is chary of ever 
mentioning an^^^body but himself. Gomara nat- 
urally gives the same account, and Prescott 
accepts his version, as do other reputable his- 
torians. Bernal Diaz, who figures always as 
the great objector and corrector, contradicts 
this account very positively and says that the 
destruction of the ships was decided upon after 
a general discussion, and that Cortes was un- 
willing to accept any responsibility, either for 
their demolition or for their cost if there should 
later arise a necessity to pay for them to their 
rightful owners. He refutes with emphatic 
scorn Gomara's assertion that. Cortes feared to 
tell the soldiers of his intention to push into 
the interior in search of the great Montezuma, 
exclaiming : " What sort of Spaniards are we, 
not to want to j)ush ahead but to stop where 
we had no hardships or fighting?" The Relacion 
of Andres de Tapia (who was also an eye- 
witness) agrees with Bernal Diaz. Puerto- 
carrero replied in La Coruiia in the same sense 
as his companion Montejo (April 29, 1520), 
♦stating that the proposal to destroy all but three 



The Destruction of the Ships 113 

of tlie ships came from the captains of them, 
who declared them to be imseaworthy, and even 
those three to be of doubtful value. Puerto- 
carrero and Montejo sailed, as has been said, 
on July 16th, with the treasure and the letters 
w^hich were dated July 10th, so that the discov- 
ery of the conspiracy and the punishment of 
its authors and the destruction of the ships all 
took place in those six days. Clavigero believes 
that Cortes induced some of the pilots to scuttle 
one or two of the ships and afterwards to come 
to him, representing the others as unseaworthy, 
from being three months in port. 

Prescott sagaciously observes that " the affair 
so remarkable as the act of one individual, be- 
comes absolutely incredible when considered as 
the result of so many independent wills " but 
the Mexican historian Orozco y Berra is doubt- 
less right in believing that the idea of destroying 
the ships originated with Cortes, who adroitly 
suggested it in such wise and with such argu- 
ments, that it came back to him as a spon- 
taneous proposal from the others, supported by 
the opinions of the pilots and ship-caiotains that 
the vessels were unsound. Such artifice was 
not alien to his diplomacy, for he usually con- 
trived that he should appear to interpret the 
popular will as well as to serve the royal in- 
terests in all the undertakings his ambition 
prompted. He dazzled, cajoled, or bullied his 
men as occasion required; he also bribed them 



114 Fernando Cortes 

at times, but he took counsel with few if any of 
them. To carry out his daring plan of destroy- 
ing the fleet, he had need of confederates to 
execute it, and all the evidence before us points 
to the conclusion that he chose them wisely and 
in small number.^ Puertocarrero and Montejo 
embarked for Spain in the flag-ship of the fleet, 
which had been spared, and the little band of 
adventurers found themselves isolated in a 
strange world, cut off from all possibility of 
retreat, as only one small vessel remained. The 
cordage, anchors, and other movable fixtures 
that might serve some future purpose, had been 
carefully removed from the condemned vessels 
and were stored in Vera Cruz. Cortes followed 
Alvarado to Cempoalla, where the news of the 
destruction of the fleet had produced conster- 
nation. Mutiny seemed imminent, and the opin- 
ion spread that the commander was leading 
them like cattle to the slaughter.^ 

In the presence of one of the greatest dangers 
that ever faced him, Cortes lost nothing of the 
presence of mind that never failed him. His 
address to the assembled men was a master- 
piece of persuasive logic. He adopted his con- 

1 Prescott, Conquest of Mexico, torn, i., cap. viii.; Orozco 
y Berra, Conquista, torn, iv., cap. viii.; Bernal Diaz, cap. 
Iviii.; MacNutt's Letters of Cortes, Second Letter; Ala- 
man, Disertacione, II.; Las Casas, Hist, de las Indias, 
lib. iii., cap. cxxiii. 

2 Gomara, Cronica, cap. xlii. 



The Destruction of the Ships 115 

ciliatory rather than his authoritative manner, 
explaining to them, first of all, that the ships 
were his own property, and therefore their de- 
struction was his loss. He next reminded them 
that the expedition had been increased by 
one hundred sailors, who would otherwise 
have had to be kept idle on board the ships 
while the others bore the brunt of the hard- 
ships and fighting in the interior; the vessels 
being unseaworthy, would have been of no serv- 
ice and, moreover, if their expedition against 
Mexico succeeded, they would not be needed, 
while if it should fail they would all find 
themselves too far from the seacoast to be 
able to avail themselves of ships. He closed 
with just the right note, — an appeal to their 
courage and cupidity, — offering, if there were, 
however, any so cowardly as to shrink from the 
dangers of the glorious enterprise, to send them 
back to Cuba in the one vessel that still re- 
mained. A wave of enthusiasm swept his 
hearers. Evoked by the hypnotic eloquence of 
their leader, the golden mirage of wealth and 
glory once more dazzled the eager eyes of the 
adventurers, and the assembly that had gathered 
in a spirit of mutiny, broke up with cheers and 
shouts of : " To Mexico ! To Mexico."^ 

1 Ixtlilxochitl, Historia Chichimeca, cap. Ixxxii.; Ala- 
man, Disertacione, II.; Bernal Diaz, cap. lix.; Orozco 
y Berra, torn, iv., cap. viii.; Prescott, Conquest of Mex., 
torn, i., cap. viii. 



ii6 Fernando Cortes 

Juan de Escalante, alguacil mayor of Vera 
Cruz, was left in command of one hundred and 
fifty men, chosen amongst those least apt for 
the hardships of the long march, though capable 
of forming a sufficient garrison. Summoning 
the Totonac chiefs before him, Cortes formally 
presented Escalante to them saying : " This 
man is my brother, whom you must obey in 
whatever he commands you, and if the Mexicans 
attack 3^ou, have recourse to him for he will 
defend you." The chieftains swore obedience to 
the new commander, saluting him and offering 
him incense. The cacique of Cempoalla fur- 
nished two hundred pack-carriers to drag the 
guns and carry the baggage, in addition to fifty 
of his principal chiefs who were to act as guides 
and counsellors. .Including several hundred 
warriors, the Totonacs numbered in all thirteen 
hundred men. Everything was ready for the 
departure from Cempoalla, when a messenger 
arrived from Escalante to inform Cortes that 
four Spanish ships ^ and appeared off the coast, 
which he had ascertained belonged to Francisco 

1 This expedition was composed of four ships carrying 
two hundred and seventy men, with horses and cannon, 
and had sailed from Jamaica towards the close of 1518, 
under command of Alonzo Alvarez de Piiieda. 

Francisco de Garay sailed with Columbus on his second 
voyage. Las Casas speaks of his great wealth, and says 
that he had five thousand Indians solely to look after his 
pigs. He went to Spain as procurator for San Domingo, 
and returned as Lieut. -Governor of Jamaica. When the 



The Destruction of the Ships 117 

de Garay, the governor of Jamaica. The con- 
duct of their captains seemed to him somewhat 
mysterious, as they had refused to land. Fear- 
ing that the ships might carry a force sent by 
Diego Velasquez, Cortes hastily returned with 
a few horsemen to Vera Cruz, leaving Alvarado 
and Sandoval in command of the forces at Cem- 
poalla. The ships had anchored some four 
leagues to the north of the settlement, and while 
Cortes and his followers were going thither they 
encountered three of Garay's men, one of whom 
was a notary charged to warn him that he was 
trespassing on the territories granted to Garay, 
and that he must withdraw from the coast. Cor- 
tes answered that if the commander of the ex- 
pedition would meet him at Vera Cruz, they 
would discuss the question of their respective 
boundaries, but the notary replied that neither 
the captain nor any one else would land. Cortes 
took the three men prisoners and concealed his 
party in the shrubbery near the coast, hoping 
that some one else would land from the ships. 

news of the Cordoba and Grijalba expeditions became the 
excitement of the day, Garay sent out an exploring party 
under command of Diego de Camargo which discovered 
the Panuco region, and continuing thence about one 
hundred leagues towards Florida, finally returned to 
Jamaica. The Emperor Charles V. granted Garay facul- 
ties for further enterprise, and the title of adelantado of 
the new countries he discovered. Garay was one of the 
most cruel oppressors of the Indians and it was said of 
him that he came, not to populate, but to depopulate, 
Jamaica. 



ii8 Fernando Cortes 

Seeing that no one came on shore he disguised 
three of his men in the prisoners' clothing and 
sent them to signal the ships for a boat. The 
stratagem was successful and, in response to 
the signals from the shore, a boat landed three 
or four armed men whom the band awaiting 
them in ambush immediately seized. The others 
who remained in the boats, seeing their com- 
panions overpowered, bent to their oars and re- 
turned to the sliip. Cortes thus increased 
his force by the welcome addition of seven 
men.^ 

All preparations for the march being com- 
pleted, and the Garay incident disposed of, 
Cortes left Cempoalla on August 16, 1519. Be- 
fore setting out he addressed his men in the 
peculiarly winning and moving stjde, of which 
he possessed the secret. Their enterprise was 
undertaken first of all for the glory of God and 
the propagation of the Faith, and hence the 
divine protection would not fail them ; the 
honour of the Spanish name was in their hands, 
and upon them depended the extension of the 
Spanish sovereignty over the great and rich 
country before them. All hope of retreat or 
succour being cut off, upon God's providence 
and their own brave hearts must their success 
depend. Bernal Diaz years afterwards wrote 
that his leader's phrases of honeyed eloquence 

1 Second Letter of Relation; Bernal Diaz, cap. Ix. ; 
Orozco y Berra, vol. iv., cap viii. 



The Destruction of the Ships 119 

were beyond anything he could repeat. The 
response was neither slow in coming, nor doubt- 
ful; acclamations greeted the commander's 
words and amidst the farewells of the Totonacs, 
the troops marched forth across the luxuriant 
tierra-caliente and on up the first slopes of the 
lofty mountain chain of the Cordilleras that 
shuts off the valley of Mexico from the sea.^ 
The first town in which they rested was Xalapa, 
situated on the slope of' Macuiltepec. The 
scene had changed in character, for the glowing 
tierra-caliente with its luxuriance of tropical 
vegetation, feathery palms, and flowering para- 
sites lay far beneath on the rolling plain that 
stretched to the azure waters of the gulf. The 
tropics had given place to the temperate zone, 
and the country was now covered with virgin 
forests of dark-foliaged oak, while the ever- 
ascending slopes of the Sierra Madre, were 
clothed with a sombre mantle of pines. Rising 
far above this inspiring landscape, towered the 
snowy peak of Orizaba, over the whiteness of 
whose immaculate summit a rosy glow was shed 
from the fires of its burning crater. Four days 
of marching, always higher and higher, brought 

1 The force numbered four hundred foot soldiers, fifteen 
or sixteen horsemen, and six pieces of artillery. The 
Totonac warriors were commanded by three chiefs, Teuch, 
Mamexi, and Tamalli. Prescott gives the number of war- 
riors alone as 1300 and adds to them 1000 bearers. I 
have kept to the numbers given by Cortes, Bernal Diaz, 
and Orozco y Berra. 



I20 Fernando Cortes 

them to a town called Xicocliimilco/ whose 
natural position for defence and well-constructed 
fortifications, Cortes reported at some detail to 
the Emperor in his second letter. Beyond this 
place the change in temperature from the tierra- 
caliente became very marked, and after passing 
the rugged defile called by Cortes, Paso del 
Nombre de Dios,- they marched for three days 
through a wild and forbidding country seared 
and tormented by prehistoric convulsions of the 
now extinct volcano, known as Cofre del Perote ^ 
where the cold was so great that several of the 
Indians, ill-clad and unused to such rigorous 
weather, perished. In the several towns where 
a halt was made, the cacique of each place re- 
ceived the Spaniards hospitably; in some in- 
stances because he was a friend of the Totonacs, 
and in others because he knew the strangers 
were on their way to visit Montezuma. Every- 
where Cortes announced himself as the am- 
bassador of the greatest sovereign in the world, 
to whom all the Indians must acknowledge alle- 
giance; everywhere he denounced idolatry, hu- 
man sacrifices, and cannibalism as contrary to 
the laws of the one supreme God and hence 
forbidden by the King of Spain; Christian doc- 

1 Identified with probability as the present town of 
Naulinco. 

- Now called Paso del Obispo. 

3 Humboldt gives its height as 4089 metres or 13,314 feet 
above sea level. 



The Destruction of the Ships 121 

trine was preached by Fray Bartolome de 
Olmedo and in each town, a cross was erected 
which the Indians obediently promised to 
reverence after his departure. 

Crossing the Sierra del Agua by a defile, to 
which the name of Paso de la Leiia was given, 
because of the symmetrical piles of hewn wood 
found there, the Spaniards emerged into a vast 
stretch of fertile and well cultivated valley, 
called Caltanmic, in the midst of whose planta- 
tions of bananas and maize stood the handsome 
town of Xocotla that seemed to the Spaniards 
even larger and better built than Cempoalla. 
Xocotla was the residence of the lord of Caltan- 
mic, whose name was Olintetl, a man of such 
immense size that he had to be suiDported by 
two of his kinsmen when he walked. The Span- 
iards promptly nicknamed him " the trembler " 
because he shook like a jelly. Though he pro- 
vided for the wants of his self-invited guests, 
OlintetPs reception of them was somewhat want- 
ing in cordiality. When asked if he were a 
vassal of Montezuma's, he answered with an 
air of surprise, " And who is not a vassal of 
Montezuma? " Cortes was not slow in explain- 
ing that he and his men were vassals of a far 
greater sovereign, whom many kings and princes 
held themselves honoured to serve. The cacique 
was not visibly impressed by these descriptions 
of a distant sovereign whom he did not know, and 
he replied, telling Cortes that Montezuma ruled 



122 Fernando Cortes 

over thirty great vassals, each of whom could 
put a hundred thousand soldiers in the field; 
his magnificence and wealth were incalculable 
and his capital, standing in the midst of a lake, 
w^as the most beautiful of cities, and unapproach- 
able save only with his permission, for his boats 
commanded the lake, and the causeways leading 
to the mainland were defended by his troops 
and provided with drawbridges. Cortes gleaned 
much information from the boasting Olintetl, 
which, though of a disquieting order, only served 
to stimulate his indomitable determination to 
advance.^ Olintetl listened with impassive mien 
to the exposition of the Christian religion made 
by Fray Bartolome and also refused the gold 
asked of him, saying that he would only give 
it if ordered to do so by Montezuma, who might 
dispose of all he possessed. Fray Bartolome, 
perceiving the folly as well as the dangers of 
attempting to force unacceptable doctrine on the 
cacique, checked the missionary zeal of Cortes 
and dissuaded him from his intention to erect 
a cross at Xocotla. 

Olintetl offered to send guides to conduct the 
Spaniards on their way to Mexico as far as the 
city of Cholula, without leaving Mexican terri- 
tory. The Cempoallans gave just the contrary 
advice, declaring that the Cholulans were false 
and treacherous people, friends of Montezuma, 
and that the best road lay through the republic 

^Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixi. 



The Destruction of the Ships 123 

of Tlascala, with whose people the Spaniards 
shoukl form an alliance. Cortes accej)ted the 
advice of the Cempoallans and despatched four 
of them as his messengers, to ask permission of 
the regents of Tlascala to pass through their 
territory.^ 

To ensure a favourable reception for his en- 
voys, he sent gifts to the regents, consisting of 
a red Flemish hat, a crossbow, and a sword. 
He also gave them a letter couched in flattering 
terms, carefully instructing the messengers to 
explain its sense, as the Spanish document 
would only serve as a formal, if incomprehen- 
sible, credential, in the eyes of the Tlascalans. 

More than the necessary time for their return 
having elapsed without anything being heard of 
his messengers, and the four days of repose 
at Xocotla having refreshed his men, Cortes 
marched to a town of some five or six thousand 
inhabitants called Yxtacamaxtitlan.^ He de- 
scribed the fortress of this place in his Second 
Letter of Relation to the Emperor as " a better 
one than could be found in half Spain." ^ Here 
he determined to await the reply from the 
regents. 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixii. ; Gomara, Cronica, cap. xliv. ; 
Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xxvii. 

2 Ixtacmaxtitlan, in the present state of Puebla. For 
convenience' sake the town was removed from the hill- 
top in 1601 and built on its present site lower down. 

3 Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 125. 



124 . Fernando Cortes 

Tlascala was an independent republic com- 
posed of four federated states, each ruled by 
its chief, while federal affairs were controlled 
by a senate ^ composed of the four rulers and 
their principal nobles. The Tlascalans were a 
brave and hardy people, well advanced in mili- 
tary science, who had preserved the indepen- 
dence of their mountain republic against the 
ever-encroaching power of Montezuma some- 
what as the Montenegrins, in their mountain 
fastness, have ever successfully withstood the 
Ottoman sultans. 

When the Spaniards came to understand more 
about the Mexican empire, it caused them no 
small wonder that Montezuma, with all his 
powerful allies, should nevertheless tolerate 
the existence of this small, hostile state in the 
midst of his own dominions. Andres de Tapia 
states in his Relacion that, in reply to his ques- 
tion to Montezuma as to why he did not crush 
the Tlascalans at one blow, the Emperor said: 
" We could perfectly well do so, but afterwards 
there would be no place left where our young 
warriors could obtain their military training, 
without going a great distance from here; we 
also constantly require these peo^Dle to furnish 
victims for sacrifices to our gods." According 

1 Orozco y Berra objects to the word senate as inac- 
curately describing the form of federal council, and calls 
the governing body senoria. Cortes likened the system 
of government to those of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa. 



, The Destruction of the Ships 125 

to tills declaration of Montezuma, the Tlascalans 
owed their continued independent existence to 
his interested toleration, rather than to their 
own ability to defend themselves. 

Their state was so completely hemmed in on 
all sides that even commercial intercourse was 
cut off, and their chief pursuit was agriculture. 
They were deprived of the use of salt ^ and 
cotton-stuffs, since the former commodity was 
not found within their borders and the latter 
was not produced at such a high altitude.^ 
Their w^arriors were the equals, if not the 
superiors of the Aztecs in the field, fighting with 
the same weapons and employing the same tac- 
tics. They were trained from infancy to detest 
the Mexicans as the hereditary foes of their na- 
tion, and the Cempoallans assured Cortes that 
he would find them ready and valiant allies 
against Montezuma. 

Still the messengers did not return, and as 
some disquietude was even felt at their long 
absence, Cortes decided to advance. The fron- 

i Called by the Indians " tequesquit." It is made from 
the saltpetre, which was largely found in the neighbour- 
hood of Itztapalapan and Ixtapaluca {Ixtabl meaning salt- 
petre), and formed an important article of commerce, 
which, however, did not reach the Tlascalans on account 
of the permanent state of hostilities. As they were also 
cut off from the sea, salt had been for fifty years an 
almost unknown luxury amongst them; cotton which was 
a product of the tierra-caliente was for the same reason 
denied them. 

2 Letters of Cortes, tom. i., p. 195. 



126 Fernando Cortes 

tier of the republic was defined by a massive 
stone wall, nine feet bigli and twenty feet 
thick that extended for a distance of two leagues 
across the valley, effectually barring out all 
comers. Cortes described this wall as being 
built of " dry stones " but Bernal Diaz says the 
stones were held together by such a strong ce- 
ment that it could scarcely be broken with 
pikes.^ Two semicircular lines of wall over- 
lapping one another in such wise as to form a 
passage ten paces wide and forty long, afforded 
the only opening. To pass through this narrow 
circuitous lane, between two high stone walls, 
from whose parapets armed warriors could rain 
down missiles on those below, was to march 
into a veritable death-trap. When the Span- 
iards arrived at this singular barricade they 
found it undefended, so they marched through 
and entered the republic without oj)position. 

^Letters of Cortes, Second Letter, p. 197; Bernal Diaz, 
cap. Ixii. 



CHAPTER V 

THE SPANISH-TLASCALAN ALLIANCE 

The Senate of Tlascala — Spanish Victories — Cruel Treat- 
ment of Spies — The Alliance — Effect on Montezuma 
— Cortes in Tlascala. 

WHILE the events described in tlie last chap- 
ter were happening, the four Cempoallan 
envoys were conducting important negotiations 
in the city of Tlascala. They presented them- 
selves at the city gates, wearing the insignia of 
ambassadors and were consequently conducted 
to the council chamber where they were regaled 
with a feast, after the Indian fashion, while the 
four overlords were assembling. Their recep- 
tion was marked by the punctilious formalities 
prescribed by Indian etiquette and, after deliver- 
ing the letter and the presents, the eldest of 
them addressed the Tlascalan lords, recounting 
the arrival of the teiiles at Cempoalla and the 
liberation, through their intervention, of that 
country from the tyranny of Montezuma. He 
repeated what had been told them of the power 
of the Spanish King, who had sent the strangers 
to Mexico, and explained, as best he could, the 
new religion that was being everywhere ex- 
pounded to the people. In conclusion, he said 

that the Spaniards wished to visit Tlascala and 

127 



128 Fernando Cortes 

that it seemed to the Cempoallans an admirable 
occasion for the Tlascalans to form an alliance 
against their ancient enemy, Montezuma. 

The four rulers listened to the envoy's dis- 
course and, at its close, declared that they ac- 
cepted the present sent them by the teules, but 
it would be necessary to deliberate before an- 
swering the proposition of the Cempoallans to 
form an alliance with them. The envoys w^ith- 
drew, only to be assailed by the eager populace 
with a thousand questions concerning the white 
men, which they answered in such wise as to 
both satisfy and inflame the interest of their 
hearers. 

Maxixcatzin, lord of Ocotelolco, was the first 
of the four lords to address his co-regents on the 
proposition of the Cempoallans. He observed 
that the Cempoallans were enemies of Montezuma 
and counselled the Tlascalans to receive the 
strangers, who seemed from their extraordinary 
deeds to be armed gods rather than mere men, and 
who now offered their potent assistance against 
the Mexicans. His hearers knew from the tra- 
ditions handed down from their remote ances- 
tors that there would one day arrive children 
of the sun, coming from the East, whose valour 
would be such that one of them might stand 
against a thousand men; it api3eared to him 
that they were now assisting at the fulfilment 
of these ancient prophecies and that they should 
receive these powerful strangers with open arms 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 129 

lest, otlierwise, refusal to do so might bring 
disaster on the republic.^ 

At the close of Maxixcatzin's speech, Xicoten- 
catl, lord of Titzatlan, who was the oldest of all 
and blind,^ rose to reply. He took a contrary 
view of the expediency of admitting the so- 
called teules into their state and city; the rites 
of hospitality were sacred, and it was a divine 
precept to receive the stranger and assist him, 
but not when he came with evil intentions. As 
for the prophecies, their purport was obscure, 
nor were they to be lightly interpreted. If these 
strangers were brave, why so were the Tlas- 
calans and it would only betray weakness to allow 
such a small body of men to invade their country 
unopposed; for if they were mere mortals, they 
could be destroyed, while if they were gods there 
would be time to placate them later on. As for 
his part, they seemed to him more like monsters 
than like gods, monsters thrown up by the sea 
because the sea would no longer contain them. 
For these, and other reasons that he exposed, 
the venerable Xicotencatl opposed the admission 
of the Spaniards into Tlascalan territory.^ 

Divided between these two opinions, the as- 

1 Munoz Camargo, Historia de Tlaxcalla; Herrera, dec. 
ii., lib. vi., cap. iii.; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xxvii.; 
Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., cap. ix. 

2 Xicotencatl's age, though great, was probably not 140 
years as is stated by several authorities. 

3 Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., cap. ix.; Muiioz Camargo, 
Hist, de la Republica de Tlaxcallan. 

9 



I30 Fernando Cortes 

sembly of noblevS seemed unable to reach a de- 
cision, when Tlehuezolotzin, lord of Tlepticpac, 
offered the Machiavellian proposition to wel- 
come the commander of the teules by means of 
a friendly message sent through the Cempoallan 
envoys, and meanwhile to send a force of bar- 
barous Otomies, under command of the Tlas- 
calan commander-in-chief; General Xicotencatl, 
to contest their advance. If the Otomies were 
victorious, the credit would redound to Tlascala, 
while if they were defeated, the republic could 
disown their act. 

This solution of the difficulty seems to have 
been received with general applause and at any 
rate was adopted. General Xicotencatl, son of 
the venerable regent of the same name, was a 
valiant soldier, eager for glory and he was scep- 
tical of the divinity attributed to the Spaniards. 
To gain time in which to complete his arrange- 
ments for the attack, the Cempoallan messengers 
were detained by one pretext or another and 
were finally even imprisoned to prevent their 
premature departure.^ Such were the reasons 
for the long period of delay, during which both 
Spaniards and Totonacs were wondering and 
chafing at Yxtacamaxtitlan. Cortes advanced 
some four leagues beyond the great wall of Tlas- 
cala, despite the entreaties of the cacique of 
Yxtacamaxtitlan, who again warned him against 

1 Herrera, dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. iii.; Torquemada, lib. iv., 
cap. xxii. 



The Spanish-Tlascaian Alliance 131 

the Tlascalans and offered to conduct him to 
Mexico by way of Cholula. 

Accompanied by six horsemen, he rode about 
half a league ahead of his army, while a body 
of light infantry acted as scouts, supported by 
a vanguard of musketeers and crossbowmen. 
The artillery was placed in the centre, and the 
rear was brought up by some two thousand 
Indians in charge of the baggage and provisions. 
The first hostile encounter was with a small 
body of Indians, armed with the maquahuitl 
and rodela,^ who attacked the Spaniards with 
great courage, showing no fear either of fire- 
arms or horses. They succeeded in unhorsing 
one man, who afterwards died of his wounds, 
and two horses were killed outright: according 
to Gomara, they were decapitated at a single 
blow. The Indians finally withdrew in good 
order. Four Spaniards were wounded in this 

1 The maquahuitl was a club about three and a half 
feet long in which blades of the stone called itztli, as 
sharp as razors, were fixed; rodelas were stout shields, 
usually round in shape and decorated with coloured 
feathers. The darts, which are so frequently mentioned, 
were short lances, whose points were tipped with bone or 
copper, or simply hardened in the fire. Clavigero identi- 
fies them with the Roman Jaculum or, Telum Amentatum, 
and says they were the weapons m.ost feared by the 
Spaniards. As marksmen, the Mexican bowmen were 
marvellously quick and accurate; their arrows were also 
pointed with bone, but, singularly enough, there is no 
mention throughout the conquest of poison being used on 
them. 



132 Fernando Cortes 

engagement while the Indians had seventeen 
killed and an immense number of wounded.^ 

As the Spaniards advanced, they were met by 
two of the Cempoallan envoys accompanied by 
two Tlascalans who disavowed all responsibility 
for the recent engagements, inviting them to 
come to their capital and offering to pay for the 
horses that had been killed.^ Whatever im- 
portance he may have attached to these excuses 
and protestations, Cortes feigned to accept them 
in good faith. The night was passed hardly 
enough; the only food obtainable was some 
little dog-like animals and tunas, or Mexican 
figs, while for dressing their wounds, the soldiers 
had only the grease from a fat Indian whom 
they had killed and cut open.^ The next day, 
the first of September, the two Cempoallan en- 
voys who had been imprisoned in the city of 
Tlascala appeared, having escaped during the 
night.^ They related that the Tlascalans had 
intended to sacrifice them and they brought the 
news that an immense force was under arms 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixii. Cortes gives the number of 
Indians killed at fifty or sixty. 

2 Letters of Cortes, torn. 1., p. 199. 

s Bernal Diaz, lac. ciL; Gomara, cap. xlv. 

* Herrera, dec. ii., lib. vi. ; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. 
XXX. Orozco y Berra disbelieves this assertion of the 
envoys, saying that all those people observed with the 
strictest fidelity the immunities of ambassadors {Con- 
quista de Mexico, tom. iv., cap. ix.). There would in- 
deed seem to be no possible reason why the envoys should 
have been so roughly treated. 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 133 

to attack the Spaniards. These tidings were 
speedily confirmed by the appearance of about 
one thousand Indians, who advanced with shouts 
and warlike gestures. Cortes ordered his in- 
terpreters to declare that his intentions were 
pacific and that he had not come there to fight 
but merely to pass through their territory, be- 
lieving they were willing to allow this. The 
notary Godoy made a record of this transaction 
so that no blame should attach to the Spaniards 
for any blood that might be shed. 

Seeing that his peaceful advances were met 
by increased fury, Cortes gave the order to 
charge, and with their usual battle-cry of " San- 
tiago ! " the Spaniards plunged into the fray. 
After some hours of sharp fighting, the Indians 
began to draw off in an orderly fashion, while 
the Spaniards, pressing after them, were art- 
fully drawn into a narrow defile intersected by 
a w^atercourse, where the ground rendered the 
artillery and cavalry practically unavailable. 
The crafty Indians had decoyed them into an 
ambush, for all of a sudden, their astonished 
eyes beheld a countless multitude of warriors, 
amongst whom could be discerned the standard 
of Xicotencatl, his colours red and white sur- 
mounted by a white heron with spread wings.^ 
Cortes estimated the number of the Indians at 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixiii.; Orozco y Eerra, torn, iv., 
cap. ix. 



134 Fernando Cortes 

more than one liundred thousand,^ while Bernal 
Diaz says they exceeded forty thousand and 
other writers give various estimates between 
these two extremes. With shrill cries and the 
beating of drums, this vast host which, by its 
numbers alone might well hope to engulf the little 
group of Spaniards, rushed to the attack. The 
first Spaniard to fall was Pedro Moron, whose 
horse was killed, leaving him on foot amongst his 
foes. No less than ten of his companions were 
wounded in their attempts to rescue him and, 
though their efforts were finally successful, he 
succumbed to his injuries the following day. 
The body of the dead horse was cut in pieces 
to be distributed throughout the Tlascalan terri- 
tory as trophies of the fight. Cortes managed to 
shift the action to more level ground where the 
employment of his cavalry and artillery became 
easier. The Indians, being massed together, 
were simply mowed down by the guns, while the 
horsemen, armed with lances, galloj)ed amongst 
the now retreating enemy, doing terrible exe- 
cution. Towards sunset Xicotencatl sounded 
the retreat, drawing off his men in good form, 
though eight of their chief commanders had 
fallen. Cortes chose a secure position for his 
camping place on the hill of Yzompachtepetl, 
where there stood a tower, and conducted his 



Ixiii. 



^ Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 200 ; Bernal Diaz, cap. 
iii. 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 135 

forces thither. Prescott remarks that whoever 
has consulted the ancient Spanish chroniclers 
in relation to wars with the infidel, whether 
Arab or American, will place little confidence 
in their numbers. We need not therefore de- 
tain ourselves to speculate as to the correct 
number of the slain and wounded in this engage- 
ment, whether Spanish or Indian. Cortes de- 
clared that not one Spaniard was killed though 
many were wounded; Bernal Diaz admits one 
killed, while on the Indian side, no proper count 
was made. Certainly, the Christians in this, as 
in countless later battles, owed their lives to the 
determination of the Indians to capture them 
alive for sacrifice. 

After one day of welcome repose, Cortes re- 
sumed hostilities, sallying forth from his camp 
to surprise five or six small villages in the 
neighbourhood. The prisoners captured during 
this action, numbering about four hundred, were 
treated kindly and released, being told to return 
to their people and dissuade them from con- 
tinuing their unreasonable attacks upon the 
Spaniards, who desired nothing so much as their 
friendship. A letter was likewise addressed to 
the four regents of the republic explaining that 
there had been no intention to give them offence, 
and that all the Spaniards asked was their 
permission to march peaceably through their 
country. The next day, two of these messengers 
returned with a defiant reply from the young 



136 Fernando Cortes 

general Xicotencatl. Cortes extracted from the 
two nobles who brought this haughty answer, the 
information that the troops marshalling against 
him were those of Tlascala, although the enemy 
sought to dissemble this fact. Xicotencatl was 
the influence most hostile to the Spaniards in the 
Tlascalan council, and his son's troops, number- 
ing fifty thousand, were divided into five bat- 
talions of ten thousand men each. Bernal Diaz 
owned that the fear of death was upon every 
Spaniard and that all confessed their sins, so 
that the friar, Bartolome de Olmedo, and the 
chaplain, Juan Diaz, were occupied during the 
whole night in administering the sacrament of 
penance.^ 

The decisive engagement began on the morn- 
ing of the fifth of September. The singular fact 
is recorded by several early historians that 
Xicotencatl sent three hundred turkeys and 
two hundred baskets of tamalhi or maize cakes 
to the Spaniards' camp, so that they might eat 
a good meal before fighting and not afterwards 
attribute their defeat to weakness from hunger.- 
Before going into the engagement Cortes made 
one of the simple but stirring speeches he was 
accustomed to address to his men, giving them 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixiv. 

2 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, cap. Ixxxiii.; Gomara, 
cap. xlvii.; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xxxii. ; Herrera, 
dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. vi. Coi'tes omits to mention this 
gift and Prescott discredits the story. 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 137 

also some practical instructions. There must be 
no straggling, for their one hope lay in keeping 
compactly together. The foot-soldiers were told 
to use the points, rather than the edges of their 
swords, the horsemen must charge at half speed 
and aim their lances at the eyes of their foes, 
and the artillery, crossbowmen, and arquebusiers 
must so manage that an incessant fire should be 
kept up, some loading, while the others dis- 
charged the pieces. 

Cortes reported that day's victory to the Em- 
peror in terms only somewhat less laconic than 
C£esar's immortal Veni, vidi, vici. In his second 
letter he wrote : " We mustered against them and 
our Lord was pleased to so aid us, that in about 
four hours we managed that they should no more 
molest us in our camp, though they still kept up 
some attacks; thus we kept fighting until it 
grew to be late, when they retired." 

Cortes followed up his victory by two meas- 
ures designed to illustrate both his wish for 
peace and his readiness for war. He despatched 
an embassy the next day to the city of Tlascala, 
bearing his ultimatum to the rulers of the re- 
public. After reiterating his professions of 
good-will and his desire for their friendship, he 
declared himself ready to forget the recent hos- 
tilities; were his offer rejected, however, he 
would raze their capital to the ground and put 
every inhabitant to the sword. The envoys bore 
his letter offering peace, and an arrow, — the 



138 Fernando Cortes 

Tlascalans might choose. While this embassy 
was absent, Cortes left his camp at the head of 
his horsemen, one hundred infantry, and some 
Indian allies, to destroy some neighbouring 
villages. In reporting the success of this sortie 
to the Emperor he wrote : " As we carried the 
banner of the Holy Cross and were fighting for 
our Faith and in the service of your Sacred 
Majesty, to your Koyal good fortune, God gave 
us such victory that we slew many people, with- 
out ourselves sustaining any injury." The 
banner mentioned was made of black silk bear- 
ing the arms of Charles V., and on both sides, 
a red cross surrounded by white and blue rays. 
It bore the legend Amici sequamur cruceni et 
si fidem liabemus in hoc signo vinceremus.^ 

The envoys had meanwhile been courteously 
received by the rulers of Tlascala, a fact that 
confirms our suspicion that the former mes- 
sengers, who pretended they had been ill-treated 
and destined for sacrifice, were untruthful; 
but, although dismay pervaded the senate and 
people, their indomitable courage still forbade 
surrender on any terms, however favourable. 
Maxixcatzin's advice to make peace and an 
alliance with the formidable teuJcs was again 
rejected, the young general Xicotencatl de- 
claring that the stain infiicted for the first time 
on the prestige of their arms could only be 

1 Elaborated from the labarum of Constantine. 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 139 

obliterated by retrieving tlieir defeat. Recourse 
was liad to the priests and magicians, of wliom 
the inquiring senators demanded whether the 
strangers were really gods or only men. The 
answer had in it perhaps more wisdom than 
appears at first hearing. The priests declared 
that the white men were not really gods but 
children of the sun, from whose beams they de- 
rived their strength and wisdom. They coun- 
selled therefore a night attack, as when the light 
of the sun was quenched, the teules were de- 
prived of his assistance and were no stronger 
than ordinary mortals. It was contrary to the 
customs of the Tlascalans, and indeed of all 
the Indian tribes of An^huac, to fight at night, 
and it has been thought that this oracular ut- 
terance, violating what was almost a law of the 
nations, was suggested by Xicotencatl, who only 
wanted the necessary authority to attack the 
Spaniards in the dark, when the artillery and 
horses, being unseen, would spread less con- 
sternation amongst his men. 

On the seventh of September a Tlascalan 
embassy appeared in the Spanish camp, bring- 
ing some presents and five slaves, saying: " If 
you are gods who eat flesh and blood, eat these 
Indians, and if you are beneficent deities we 
offer you incense and feathers; and if you are 
men, behold here fowls and maize and cherries." 
Cortes repeated his former declarations and as- 
sured them that he and his men were simple 



I40 Fernando Cortes 

mortals like themselves.^ That same evening, 
some fifty Tlascalans came to the Spanish camp, 
ostensibly to bring provisions, but one of the 
Cempoallan chiefs called the attention of Cortes 
to the interest with which these men seemed to be 
peering about, and expressed his conviction that 
they were spies. One by one Cortes had them 
enticed apart from their companions and, by 
frightening and cross-questioning them, he 
learned about the projected night-attack and 
the reasons that had prompted it. He cut off 
the hands of the spies and sent them back to 
tell Xicotencatl to come whenever he chose, by 
day or by night, for he would always find the 
Spaniards ready for him.^ Martial law every- 
where deals severely with spies and the death 
penalty would not have exceeded their deserts, 
— perhaps it would have been more merciful 
than such barbarous mutilation.^ Prescott ob- 
serves that " it is too much to ask of any man, 
still less of one bred to the iron trade of war, to 
be in advance of the refinement of his age. We 
may be content if, in circumstances so unfavour- 
able to humanity, he does not fall below it." 

1 Relacion de Andres de Tapia, in Garcia Icazbalceta, 
p. 569; Gomara, cap. xlvii.; Herrera, dec. ii., lib. vi., 
cap. vii. 

-Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 202; Gomara, cap. xlviii.; 
Relacion de Andres de Tapia, p. 570. 

2 The entire garrison of Uxellodunum had their right 
hands amputated by Caesar's order and, thus mutilated, 
were sent back to their homes. 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 141 

However repugnant to our humaner feelings 
such punishments may be, the logic of the his- 
torian's observation compels our assent. 

The night attack that followed was repulsed, 
as the Tlascalans, perceiving that their intended 
surprise was a failure, made but a poor fight 
and then fled away into the darkness. Several 
days of quiet ensued, save for some small skir- 
mishing in the neighbourhood of the camp. 
Despite their repeated victories against such 
appalling odds, the soldiers were becoming dis- 
couraged, and discontent seethed throughout 
the camp; fifty-five men had perished, most of 
the survivors were wounded, — some of them se- 
verely, — and a dozen, of whom Cortes was one, 
suffered from fever. The strain on their forces 
of resistance was terrible, for they lived in their 
harness and slept, — when at all, — with their 
arms by their sides. Those who had come half- 
heartedly and against their will, the partisans 
of Diego Velasquez and those who were frankly 
afraid, despairing of success, formed the nuc- 
leus of a discontent that spread daily, influencing 
the others. Cortes overheard it said that if he 
were so mad as to rush into a situation from 
which he could never escape, there was no rea- 
son why the others should do likewise, and that 
the best thing for them to do, was to return 
to the coast, with or without him, as he chose. 
This state of unrest culminated one day, in 
seven men presenting themselves before their 



142 Fernando Cortes 

commander to declare that, in view of the im- 
mense difficulties ahead of them, their small 
number, and the multitude of the enemy, they 
thought the expedition should return to Vera 
Cruz and obtain reinforcements before attempt- 
ing anything further. Cortes replied in his 
most suave and gentle manner, calling their at- 
tention to the almost miraculous success they 
had so far achieved, and which he attributed to 
the special protection of Almighty God, for 
whose glory they w^ere fighting: to retreat to 
the coast would be to lose all their prestige, for 
the move would be ascribed both by their foes 
and their allies to fear of Montezuma. His 
winning eloquence did not prove so immediately 
effective as usual, and despite his arguments, 
the grumblers still persisted, until he cut them 
short by exclaiming that it was better to die 
with honour than to live disgraced. This sen- 
timent touched the right chord, and was loudly 
approved by the majority.^ 

Montezuma had followed the movements of 
the Spaniards with unabating interest and no 
small satisfaction, arguing that if they defeated 
the Tlascalans, they were destroying his enemies, 
while if the Tlascalans overcame the Spaniards 
then he would be rid of their obnoxious pres- 
ence. When the j)roposals of peace were re- 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixix. ; Letters of Cortes, torn, i., 
p. 204. 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 143 

ported to him, however, he took alarm, for an al- 
liance between Spaniards and Tlascalans was the 
last thing he wished to see consummated. After 
consultation with his advisers, he decided to send 
an embassy with presents to congratulate Cortes 
on his victories. Six nobles, accompanied by 
an escort of two hundred attendants, departed 
on this mission and, on arriving at the Spanish 
camp, were received with his usual urbanity by 
the astute commander.^ The gift consisted of 
gold-dust to the value of one thousand j)esos, 
clothing, stuffs, and feather-work. The ambas- 
sadors had been instructed to discourage the 
advance of the Spaniards towards Mexico, on 
the ground that the roads were very difficult 
and dangerous, and the country too sterile to 
furnish them provisions. They inquired what 
annual tribute in gold, slaves, and other pro- 
ducts of the country the King of Spain would 
require of Montezuma, who professed himself 
ready to acknowledge the suzerainty of that 
monarch on condition that Cortes renounced 
his intention of visiting the capital. Cortes 
received the embassy, accepted the gifts, but 
made no definite answer to Montezuma's pro- 
position. He invited the envoys to remain with 
him and two of them returned to Mexico to 
make their report, while the others continued 
in the Spanish camp. The same day in which 

''^ Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 209; Bernal Diaz, cap. 
Ixxii.; Gomara, cap. xlix.; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xxxv. 



144 Fernando Cortes 

the Mexican envoys arrived, Xicotencatl made 
a desperate, but vain, attack on the Spaniards; 
that his hereditary foes, the Mexicans, were 
witnesses of his defeat probably caused him 
greater mortification than did his losses. Ke- 
sistance was at an end, and the next day au 
embassy from the republic solicited peace. 
General Xicotencatl came fully armed and es- 
corted by fifty nobles robed in his colours, red 
and white. Cortes, who could not but admire 
the splendid courage of his intrepid opponent, 
received him with every mark of respect, con- 
ducting him to his own tent and seating him 
opposite to himself, while all the other parti- 
cipants in the conference remained standing. 
The offering brought by Xicotencatl was but a 
small one and, in presenting it, he said that 
the Tlascalans were not rich and that he made 
the offering merely as a token of their desire 
for peace. Their independence was their only 
possession, and it was one they had ever de- 
fended, for, despite his great power, Montezuma 
had never brought them under his yoke. Xico- 
tencatl was evidently a stranger to the Mexican 
view of Tlascalan independence and little sus- 
pected that Montezuma would later explain to 
the Spaniards that the republic continued to 
exist merely because it was a convenient ground 
for the military training of the Aztec youths, 
while the inhabitants were a perpetual preserve, 
supplying victims for the Mexican altars. 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 145 

To the general's efforts to excuse and explain 
the hostility of the Tlascalans, Cortes replied 
that he had come to their country trusting to 
the assurance of their friends, the Totonacs, 
that he would be welcomed, and that after they 
had received his messages of good-will they had 
treacherously attacked him and brought upon 
themselves the severe defeats and losses of the 
past days, for which he was heartily sorry. It 
was agreed that bygones should be forgotten, 
though Cortes made it plain that he only ac- 
cepted the submission of the republic from an 
excess of condescension and magnanimity see- 
ing that, in fact, their treachery really merited 
the destruction of their city and nation. The 
invitation to proceed at once to the city was 
not accepted and Xicotencatl withdrew, carry- 
ing the blue and green glass beads that Cortes 
sent to the regents in return for their gift. 

The conclusion of a peace, which meant an 
alliance, perturbed the Mexican ambassadors 
not a little, and hardly had Xicotencatl left the 
camp than they sought to rouse suspicions of 
his sincerity, declaring that the Tlascalans were 
deceiving Cortes with the purpose of enticing 
him into some situation favourable for revenging 
themselves for their recent defeat. The Tlas- 
calan opinion of the Aztecs was that they were 
liars and deceivers, who had subjugated their 
neighbours by fraud and ruled them by force; 
they cautioned Cortes to be chary of placing 



146 Fernando Cortes 

confidence in anything tliey said. Reporting tlie 
situation at tliis time in his second letter to 
Charles V., Cortes wrote: 

I was not a little pleased to see this discord 
and want of conformity between the two parties, 
because it appeared to me to strengthen my design 
and that later I would find means to subjugate 
them. That common saying De monte,^ etc., might 
be repeated and I was even reminded of a scrip- 
tural authority which says, Omne regnum in seip- 
sum divisum, desolabitur ; so I treated with the one 
and the other and I privately thanked both for the 
advice they gave me, giving to each the credit for 
more friendship than to the other.^ 

News of the treaty of peace was received with 
great rejoicing in the city, and was published 
throughout the republic. Tlascala was as jubi- 
lant as though victory, and not defeat, had 
perched on her standards. Provisions poured 
into the Spanish camp and the population 
flocked thither to see the strangers, with whom 
they mingled on terms of perfect confidence and 
amity. The continued presence of the Mexican 
ambassadors disquieted the Tlascalan rulers 
and they repeated with insistence their invita- 

1 De monte malo si quiera un palo. Explained in 
Stevens's Spanish-English dictionary: "Of an ill wood 
take, tho' it be but one stick, that is, Get what you can 
tho' never so little from an ill man or a miser." 

-Letters of Cortes, tom. i., p. 210; Bernal Diaz, cap. 
Ixxiii, 




PORTRAIT OF CORTES 

FROM A PICTURE IN THE MEXICO HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S GALLERY 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 147 

tion to Cortes to come inside the city, where 
they might provide for him, and might enter- 
tain him more becomingly. Cortes, however, 
still delayed. He was waiting for another em- 
bassy from Montezuma that was due in six days' 
time and had also, meanwhile, written to Es- 
calante at Vera Cruz, reporting his successes, 
and asking him to send supplies of wine and hosts 
for the celebration of mass. 

The expected envoys arrived within the es- 
tablished time from Mexico, bringing three 
thousand dollars in gold, besides ornaments and 
the usual feather-work and cotton stuffs. This 
was intended as a God-speed to the Spaniards, 
whom Montezuma still urged to return whence 
they came, adding a warning that they should 
on no account trust the perfidious, Tlascalans 
nor go into their city. 

The Tlascalans, having fought so obstinately 
to keep Cortes out of their town, were now 
equally determined that he should come into it, 
and the humorous element in his situation was 
doubtless not lost on Don Fernando, who found 
himself so assiduously courted by the rival 
powers — the empire and the republic. The re- 
turn of the Mexican ambassadors brought things 
to a climax and as soon as their arrival was 
known in Tlascala, the four chief rulers left the 
city attended by a great concourse of nobles 
and marched in their greatest pomp to the 
quarters of Cortes. After the salaams and in- 



148 Fernando Cortes 

censing prescribed by their etiquette, the aged 
Xicotencatl spoke to Cortes in a tone of affec- 
tionate reproach, frequently repeating his name, 
Malintzin, Malintzin, and begging him to no 
longer deny them the pleasure of receiving him 
in their city. The venerable chieftain protested 
against the insidious arts of the Mexicans to 
poison his mind against them, and to prevent 
the Spaniards and the Tlascalans from becoming 
friends. To such an appeal there was but one 
reply. 

The following morning, Friday the twenty- 
third of September, mass was first celebrated 
by the chaplain Juan Diaz, after which the 
Spaniards broke the camp at Yzompachtzinco, 
to which place they gave the name of Torre de 
la Victoria, and, marching with every precau- 
tion against a possible surprise, they made their 
triumphal entry into Tlascala, accompanied by 
a vast concourse of people collected from all 
the country roundabout, and amidst the ac- 
clamations of the populace. At different places 
during the march, military and civil dignitaries 
met the procession and swelled the commander's 
escort. The streets were thronged with people, 
eager to behold the teules, and from crowded 
roofs, garlands of flowers were rained down 
upon them. Tlie population was in gala attire, 
and the four regents accompanied by nobles of 
each of the four states and by the priests, all 
in their robes of state, advanced to greet Cortes, 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 149 

salaaming to the earth and sending up clouds 
of incense in token of their homage and sub- 
mission. The palace of Xicotencatl was pre- 
pared for the Spanish commander and, as the 
Mexican ambassadors had come on his guarantee 
that they would be respected, they were lodged 
there with him. The Spanish troops were 
quartered in the extensive courts and buildings 
of the same palace, while the Indian allies were 
lodged in the dependencies of the great temple.^ 
Cortes did not relax his customary discipline 
because of these enthusiastic demonstrations. 
He gave strict orders that no one was to take 
anything that was not offered to him, nor was 
any one to move one step outside the quarters 
without permission. The artillery was placed 
and the guard mounted, exactly as though the 
place were besieged. The men protested and 
demanded more liberty; likewise the Tlascalans 
were hurt at what seemed to them a want of 
confidence in their friendship, but Cortes an- 
swered them that such were the rules and cus- 
toms of his troops, which were never relaxed in 
war or peace. This explanation was not only 
sufficient to allay criticism, but so impressed 
General Xicotencatl that he proposed its adop- 
tion in the army under his command.^ 

1 Ixtlilxochitl, Historia Chichimeca, cap. Ixxxiii.; Bei-nal 
Diaz, cap. Ixxiv. 

2 Gomara, Cronica, cap. liv., Iv.; Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixxv.; 
Sahagun, Historia de Nueva Espana, lib. xii., cap. xi. 



150 Fernando Cortes 

This town [wrote Cortes in his second letter 
to Charles V.] is so large and admirable that, 
although much of what I might say I shall omit, 
the little which I shall say is almost incredible; 
for it is much larger than Granada, and very much 
stronger, having very good buildings, and it con- 
tains a great many more people than Granada did 
when it was taken, and is much better supplied 
with provisions, such as bread, birds, game, and 
river-fish and other good vegetables and edibles. 
There is a market in this city, in which every day 
above thirty thousand souls sell and buy, without 
counting many other small markets in different 
parts of the city. Everything is to be found in 
this market in which they trade and could need, 
not only provisions, but also clothing and shoes. 
There are jewelry shops for gold and silver and 
stones and other valuables of feather-work, as well 
arranged as can be found in any of the squares or 
market-places of the world; there is also as good 
earthenware and crockery as the best in Spain. 
They also sell wood and coal, and both edible and 
medicinal herbs. There are houses like barbers' 
shops, where they wash their heads and shave them- 
selves ; there are also baths : finally there prevail 
good order and politeness, for they are a people 
full of intelligence and understanding, and such 
that the best in Africa does not equal them. This 
province contains many extensive and beautiful 
valleys, well tilled and sown, and none are left 
uncultivated. The province is ninety leagues in 
circumference, and, as far as I have been able to 
judge about the form of government, it is almost 
like that of Venice, Genoa, or Pisa, because there 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 151 

is no one supreme ruler. There are many lords, 
all living in this city, and the people, who are 
tillers of the soil, are their vassals, though each one 
has his lands to himself, some more than others. 
In undertaking wars, they all gather together and, 
thus assembled, they decide and plan them. It is 
believed that they must have some system of jus- 
tice for punishing criminals, because one of the 
natives of this province stole some gold from a 
Spaniard and I told this to that Magiscatzin,i the 
greatest lord amongst them. After making their 
investigation they pursued him to a city which is 
near there, called Churutecal,^ whence they brought 
him prisoner and delivered him to me, with the 
gold, telling me that I might chastise him. I 
thanked them for the diligence they took in this, 
but told them that, inasmuch as I was in their 
country, they might chastise him according to their 
custom, and that I did not wish to meddle with 
the punishment of their people while I was in their 
country." They thanked me for this and took him 
with a public crier, who proclaimed his offence, 
leading him through the great market-place where 
they put him at the foot of a sort of theatre and, 
with a loud voice, again published his offence. And 
all having seen him, they beat him on the head with 
sticks until they killed him. We have seen many 
others in the prisons, whom, it is said, were con- 
fined there for thefts and other offences they had 
committed. According to the visitation that I 
ordered to be made, this province has five hundred 
thousand householders, besides those of another 

1 Maxixcatzin. 2 Meaning Cholula. 



152 Fernando Cortes 

small province called Gnazincango, which joins it, 
whose people live as these do, without a rightful 
sovereign, and are no less vassals of Your Highness 
than the Tlascalans. 

The day after the solemn entry into the city, 
many of the chiefs and nobles assisted at mass, 
which was said by the chaplain, Juan Diaz. 
Gifts were then offered to Cortes which, though 
modest enough compared with the rich presents 
sent by Montezuma, were graciously accepted 
for the significance attaching to them. Three 
hundred young girls were next presented, 
amongst whom w^as a daughter of Xicotencatl 
whom he destined as a wife for Cortes, and nu- 
merous other daughters of nobles for the officers 
of his army. Cortes expressed his recognition 
of this attention, but declined to receive the 
young women, and in answer to the surprise of 
the Tlascalans, he explained that being Chris- 
tians, he and his men adored and served the 
one true God, to whom the human sacrifices and 
cannibal feasts in use amongst them were offen- 
sive and that they could not consort with idola- 
ters. An exposition of Christian doctrines then 
followed, which concluded by an exhortation to 
the Indians to abandon their superstitions and, 
by so doing, make it possible for the Spaniards 
to accept their daughters and become their firm 
allies. 

The Tlascalans, however, were tenacious of 
their gods whom their forefathers had always 



The Spanish-Tlascalan Alliance 153 

adored and, after consulting amongst themselves, 
they refused to abandon them. The most they 
would concede was to admit the Christian God 
to a place amongst their deities. Flexible on 
all other questions, Cortes never temporised 
where religion was concerned, and how far his 
zeal would have carried him, it is not difficult 
to guess, had it not been for the wiser counsels 
of the Mercedarian friar, Bartolome de Olmedo, 
who put clearly before him the peril and folly 
of attempting to force conversion on people who 
were unprepared to receive the faith. The 
friar's reasoning prevailed, but a chapel was 
fitted up in Xicotencatl's palace and a cross 
was erected on the site of Cortes's reception on 
entering the city, and a statue of the Blessed 
Virgin was placed in a teocalU that was first 
cleansed and redecorated. As the Tlascalans 
were familiar with the cross as the sign of a 
god called Tonacacuahuitl, they w^ere more 
pleased than not to find their new friends 
venerating the same symbol. Five of the noble 
Indian maidens were baptised and given to the 
Spanish officers. The daughter of Xicotencatl, 
who became known as Doiia Luisa after her 
baptism, was accepted, not by Cortes, but by 
Pedro de Alvarado, and Prescott states that 
their posterity intermarried with some of the 
noblest families of Castile. Tlascalan authors 
later affirmed tliat Juan Diaz also baptised the 
four ruling lords of the republic, to whom Cortes 



154 Fernando Cortes 

stood godfather; the conversion of Maxix- 
catzin is elsewhere described as taking place a 
year later (1520) when, falling ill of the small- 
pox and desiring to die a Christian, Cortes sent 
Fray Bartolome to administer the sacrament. 
In the absence of any mention of such events, 
either by Cortes, who would have been the first 
to proclaim them, or by Andres de Tapia and 
Bernal Diaz, who were present, these alleged 
conversions would seem to belong to the stock 
of pious fables that multiplied after the conquest. 
While their daughters were being baptised bv 
the Spanish chaplain, the Tlascalans christened 
Cortes and Pedro de Alvarado with names that 
will never die, for it was from them that Cortes 
first acquired the name of Malintzin or Malinche, 
signifying Marina's captain ; Mufloz Camargo, 
the Tlascalan historian, is authority for the 
assertion that after his entrance into the city 
the Tlascalans also addressed Cortes as Chal- 
chuich. To Pedro de Alvarado they gave the 
expressive name of Tonatiuh, meaning the sun, 
because of his florid complexion and golden 
blonde hair. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE OHOLULAN CONSPIRACY AND MASSACRE 

Events in Tlascala — The Cholulans — Their Treachery — 
The Massacre — Justification of Cortes — Description of 
Cholula — Popocatapetl 

THE submission of the warlike Tlascalans 
contributed to enlianee the fame of the 
Spaniards throughout the nations of An^huac, 
and envoys came from far and wide to view the 
formidable strangers, concerning whom, they 
carried back reports that excited still more the 
popular interest in them. During three wrecks, 
Cortes and his men enjoyed the lavish hospi- 
tality of the city, in return for which he dis- 
tributed amongst the nobles the loads of 
presents he had received from Montezuma and 
the various caciques, and which he had sent 
messengers to bring up from Cempoalla. These 
gifts consisted of the feather-work, so highly 
prized by the Indians, but which was of no value 
or interest to the Spaniards after their first 
curiosity was satisfied, and of the beautiful 
cotton-stuffs to w^hich they were equally indif- 
ferent, but which to the Tlascalans, were the 
rarest of luxuries, since their country produced 
no cotton. 

Life was not all festal, however, at least not 
155 



\ 



156 Fernando Cortes 

for Cortes, wlio profited by liis daily companion- 
sliip with the Tlascalan rulers and nobles to 
inform himself minutely concerning the Aztec 
capital, its fortifications, the number of its 
population and the military resources of its 
ruler. He heard all that his hosts were able to 
tell him, amongst other things, the old prophecy 
foretelling the arrival of the bearded white men 
from the East who would one day subdue and 
rule the land, and with whom public opinion 
identified the Spaniards. He answered them 
that he and his men did, in fact, come from the 
east and that their king had sent them to be 
their brothers ; " and may it please God to grant 
us the grace, that by means of us, they [the 
Indians] may be redeemed " ^ he piously con- 
cludes. 

Amongst others who, from hatred of Mon- 
tezuma, offered allegiance to the Spaniards, 
there came another embassy from Prince Ixtlil- 
xochitl, inviting Cortes to pass by Calpulalpan, 
where he would join him with all his forces 
and march against the Aztec capital. The en- 
voys were sent back to their ambitious master, 
bearing a politic answer to his proposal. 

Mexican ambassadors came and went between 
the capital and Tlascala. These harassed digni- 
taries had indeed a difficult task, for their in- 
structions varied according as Montezuma's 
humour changed. Their sovereign's instruc- 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixxviii. 



Cholulan Conspiraxy and Massacre 157 

tions to them were to turn the strangers back, 
but without offending them, lest, being gods, 
perchance their wrath might destroy the empire. 
The victory over the Tlascalans had estab- 
lished once for all the imposing military pres- 
tige of the Spaniards, and Montezuma, despairing 
of staving off their impending visit, resolved to 
admit them to his capital with what grace he 
could muster. To this end an embassy was sent 
to Tlascala to formally invite Cortes to visit 
the emperor in Mexico, advising him to march 
by way of the city of Cholula ^ where orders for 
his reception had been given. The Tlascalans 
strongly opposed this plan, warning Cortes that 
Cholula would prove a trap, prepared for his 
destruction. They described the Cholulans as 
cowards in the field, but crafty and dangerous 

1 Cholula lay six leagues south of Tlascala and twenty 
leagues distant from the city of Mexico; it was the sacred 
city of Anahuac, the Jerusalem or Mecca of the nations 
where stood (and stands) the greatest pyramid in Mexico, 
of whose construction there is no authentic record. The 
form of government there was theocratic, and the priests 
chose a captain-general to command the army while the 
civil affairs were administered by a council composed of 
six nobles. 

The Cholula pyramid, now so covered with earth, and 
overgrown with shrubs and trees, that its artificial char- 
acter and architectural lines are no longer discernible, 
measures at the length of its base 1423 feet, or twice the 
length of Cheops; the square of the base covers about 
twenty-four acres, and the flat area on the summit, a 
little more than one acre. The chief deity worshipped 
at Cholula was the mysterious Quetzalcoatl. See Saha- 
gun, Historia de Nueva Espaua, lib. i., cap. iii. 



158 Fernando Cortes 

people, obedient in all things to Montezuma's 
will. The most telling argument they used, 
however, was their reminder that, while peo- 
ple had come from great distances to salute him 
and pay him homage, nobody had appeared from 
Cholula, though the city was but six leagues 
distant.^ 

In response to a summons Cortes sent to 
Cholula, there arrived an embassy, which the 
Tlascalans promptly pointed out was composed 
of persons of very inferior rank, whose very 
appearance in the character of ambassadors was 
a mockery. These people were sent back, bear- 
ing a peremptory order from Cortes to the chiefs 
to present themselves and make their submission 
without delay, otherwise he would consider and 
treat them as rebels against the King of Spain's 
authority. 

Cortes acted consistently on his unfaltering 
conviction that he was an instrument of divine 
justice, and he determined that others should so 
regard him. He started from the dogmatic as- 
sumption that the new world belonged to Spain 
by right of Pope Alexander's bull of donation, 
that its inhabitants were, therefore, just as much 
the lawful subjects of the Crown as were the 
natives of Castile or Granada, and that to refuse 
obedience was rebellion. The native chiefs, in 
resisting his pretentions and defending their 
countries became, according to his reasoning, 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, ii., pp. 211-212. 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre 159 

instigators of revolt and must be dealt with as 
such. Most of all, the people were practisers 
of idolatry, in peril of eternal damnation, whom 
it was a chief part of his mission to rescue 
and bring into the knowledge of the Faith. He 
held himself to be merciful, in that he invariably 
invited their obedience by explaining what a 
privilege it was to be ruled by such a mighty 
sovereign as the Emperor, and he sought to ac- 
complish their conversion by expounding the 
doctrines of the Christian religion. Once this 
choice was put plainly before them and they 
had refused to accept the dual blessings of 
vassalage and conversion, they became, in his 
eyes, contumacious rebels and conscious here- 
tics. He had the Spanish sixteenth-century 
standards as to how £ll such were to be treated. 
In dealing with the Cholulans, he followed 
the usual solemn formality of causing a letter 
to be drawn up by a notary; that the Cholulan 
priests to whom it was addressed could not un- 
derstand a word of it, did not detract from the 
validity of the proceeding in his estimation. 
The excuse for their tardy appearance, offered 
by the Cholulan chiefs who came the next day, 
was, that they had not ventured to trust them- 
selves in the power of the Tlascalans who were 
their enemies; they were persuaded that the 
latter had spoken ill of them, but they begged 
Cortes not to listen to such calumnies but to 
come to Cholula, where he might judge the 



i6o Fernando Cortes 

sincerity of their friendship from the welcome 
he would there receive.^ 

Despite the continued opposition of his new 
allies, Cortes decided to accept this invitation 
and he fixed the date of his arrival. Accom- 
panied by a force of one hundred thousand Tlas- 
calan warriors, he marched, on the thirteenth 
of October, to within two leagues of Cholula, 
where he pitched his camp and, to avoid possible 
troubles from the presence of such a number of 
their enemies in the Cholulan capital, he dis- 
missed the greater part of the Tlascalans. 
Some five or six thousand, however, still re- 
mained with him, despite his protests that their 
presence was unnecessary.- 

The following day, as many as ten or twelve 
thousand persons came out from the city, bear- 
ing presents of flowers, fruits, bread, and birds. 
The Cholulan chiefs represented to Cortes that 
the entrance of such a numerous body of armed 
Tlascalans into the city would certainly pro- 
voke disorders and, as the commander shared 
this apprehension, he ordered his allies to 
remain in the camp outside the city walls. 

Upon entering the city the next day, the Span- 
iards were struck with the marks of a civilisation 
superior to that of Tlascala. The costumes of 
the people were richer, their manners more 
polished and ceremonious and, as the procession 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 213. 

2 Ibid., p. 214. 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre i6i 

moved forward amidst the assembled multitude 
of citizens, escorted by the principal nobles and 
priests bearing smoking censers, garlands of 
flowers were thrown down upon them from the 
crowded housetops. They were assigned spa- 
cious quarters in the dependencies of one of 
the great temples and a plentiful repast was 
immediately offered them. Forewarned by the 
Tlascalans, Cortes was not blinded by these at- 
tentions; his quick eye noted that the usual 
high-road was closed and another had been 
opened, while some of the city's streets were 
barricaded and on the flat roofs of the houses^ 
stones had been collected. Some agents of Mon- 
tezuma's whom he knew by sight, were also seen 
in conversation with the chief member of the 
Aztec embassy which had accompanied the Span- 
iards from Tlascala. This ambassador suddenly 
disappeared without giving any previous notice 
of his intention, and after his departure the 
polite attentions of the Cholulans seemed to 
diminish, while the provisions became notice- 
ably insufficient. The visits of the chief priests 
and nobles became fewer and finally ceased 
altogether, while the Aztec envoys who still re- 
mained, changed their tone and sought once 
more to dissuade Cortes from going on to Mex- 
ico, saying one moment that the road was im- 
passable, and at another that provisions were 
so scarce that the Emperor could not properly 
entertain him. The atmosphere became charged 



i62 Fernando Cortes 

with suspicion, some of the Cempoallan allies 
reported that they had discovered several pits 
dug in the streets, in which sharp pointed stakes 
were driven and carefully covered over, in such 
wise as to be hardly perceptible. 

It was remembered the Tlascalans had warned 
the Spaniards, that such pitfalls were prepared 
for the horses. Simultaneously, eight Tlas- 
calans who had come into the city as camp 
servants, reported that two men and five 
children had that morning been sacrificed to 
the god of war and that the Cholulans were 
sending their women and children out of the 
city. All doubts as to the meaning of these 
disquieting reports were dispelled by Marina, 
who had been urged by a Cholulan woman with 
whom she had become intimate, to leave the 
white men and conceal herself in her house, as 
a general massacre of the strangers had been 
ordered and her only salvation lay in adopting 
this plan. Marina feigned to assent, and thus 
acquired more particulars, all of which she 
faithfully reported to Geronimo de Aguilar.^ 
Marina next induced her informant and two 
priests to visit the Spanish quarters, where they 
were persuaded to confirm the truth of her 
story. Little by little the details of the plot 
were disclosed. Montezuma, who had at first 

^Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 215; Bernal Diaz, cap. 
Ixxxiii.; Gomara, Cronica, cap. lix. ; Herrera, dec. xi., lib. 
vii., cap. i.; Torqviemada, lib. iv., cap. xxxix. 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre 163 

directed the Cholulans to receive the Spaniards 
hospitably, had since been informed by certain 
oracles that Cholula was destined to be the 
grave of the strangers; he consequently revoked 
his previous instructions, ordered the citizens to 
prepare ambuscades and pitfalls in their streets 
and to hold themselves in readiness to take the 
Spaniards at a disadvantage. Twenty thousand 
Mexican troops, which had been stationed in a 
place of concealment near by, would come to 
their assistance at the critical moment and 
annihilate the obnoxious strangers. 

Even the resourceful Cortes was perplexed at 
the dilemma in which he found himself and, be- 
fore he formed a decision, he summoned his 
captains together and put the situation clearly 
before them. In such conferences the veritable 
character of each participant is disclosed. The 
timid counsel retreat, the prudent devise half 
measures, seeking to safeguard their honour 
and at the same time to save their skins. Cor- 
tes, who was as faithful to his purpose as is 
the needle to the pole, declared there was but 
one hope for them; retreat in any form would 
be disastrous, if not indeed impossible, and their 
only course was to strike quickly and strike 
hard, before they were struck. His plan was 
carefully laid and the first step was to urgently 
invite the principal caciques to come to his 
quarters, as he had a communication of import- 
ance to make to them. When they appeared, he 



164 Fernando Cortes 

quietly explained that, as tlie presence of liis 
men seemed no longer desired by the Cholulans, 
he had decided to quit the city the following 
day and therefore begged them to supply him 
with two thousand men to transport his artillery 
and baggage. His request was granted and the 
chiefs withdrew. The second step was to com- 
municate his knowledge of the plot to the Aztec 
envoys, telling them that this murderous design 
was attributed by the Cholulans to Montezuma. 
The envoys protested that they were ignorant 
of the conspiracy and were convinced that their 
imperial master was equally so. Cortes was 
prepared for this answer which he feigned to 
believe, declaring that he held it to be incredible 
that such a great prince as Montezuma could 
stoop to such base treachery. His decision was 
taken, and he declared to the envoys that he 
would chastise the Cholulans in such wise as 
should vindicate Montezuma as well as himself. 
The envoys were then placed under strict guard 
and prevented from communicating with the 
Cholulans. The Tlascalan allies outside the 
walls were notified that they should hold them- 
selves in readiness on the following morning, 
and on hearing a musket shot they should make 
a general assault on the city. 

At dawn the next day Cortes mounted his 
horse and, having placed his heavy guns so as 
to command the approaches to the temple court 
or square where his men were encamped and to 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre 165 

which there were but three entrances, he awaited 
the arrival of the caciques and the promised 
bearers. No sooner had these latter been col- 
lected inside the enclosure, the entrances to 
which were guarded by soldiers, than Cortes 
conducted the nobles into a smaller court-yard 
and there questioned them one by one concerning 
the conspiracy, telling them that further con- 
cealment was useless as he was fully informed 
of their plans. The chiefs admitted their guilt, 
but excused their action by saying that they 
were bound to obey Montezuma, by whose orders 
the plot had been formed. Cortes feigned indig- 
nation on hearing this, declaring that they de- 
famed the Emperor whom he held to be his 
friend but that in any case their plea was in- 
admissible, as he was in their city in response 
to their urgent invitation and hence protected 
by the laws of hospitality. 

The fatal musket shot was fired. The de- 
fenceless men herded in the enclosure were mas- 
sacred, while the Tlascalan allies from without 
rushed to attack the city, whose streets quickly 
became encumbered with the slain. Cortes him- 
self states that within the space of two hours 
more than three thousand persons were killed, 
while other authorities place the number much 
higher.^ This massacre is one of the bloodiest 

''■Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 216; Gomara, cap. Ix.; 
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, cap. Ixxxiv.; Herrera, dec. 
ii., lib. vii., cap. ii. 



1 66 Fernando Cortes 

in Mexican Iiistory and. concerning it the great- 
est controversy has raged. Las Casas leads in 
judging Cortes most severely and says that it 
was a part of his policy, as indeed it was of 
the Spaniards everywhere, to strike terror into 
the natives by a wholesale slaughter. Bernal 
Diaz defends Cortes and says his course was 
justified later, w^hen, in the investigation made 
by the friars who came for that purpose to 
Cholula, it was learned from the chiefs and 
other Cholulans that there had really been a 
concerted plot to destroy the Spaniards in their 
city. 

A contrary theory is, that the Tlascalans 
invented the fiction of a i3lot expressly to pro- 
voke a massacre of their Cholulan enemies. If 
this be true, Marina was the only instrument 
for accomplishing their purpose. If Marina in- 
vented the alleged disclosures of her female 
friend, if she used her absolute power as inter- 
preter to put into the mouths of the priests and 
caciques confessions of guilt that they never 
uttered, the responsibility for the massacre falls 
upon her. 

Cortes trusted Marina. Of the sincerity of 
his belief in the existence of such a plot, the 
evidence before us leaves no room for reason- 
able doubt. The moment was one of great 
peril, in which the commander's first duty 
was to save his men. The accusation of Las 
Casas may, in this instance, be dismissed, for 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre 167 

it was not tlie policy of Cortes to massacre 
the Indians merely to strike terror into the 
survivors. Nowhere had he provoked hos- 
tilities or encouraged wanton cruelty. Admit- 
ting, however, that his belief in the existence of 
a conspiracy to destroy his men was honest or 
even correct, and granting that his only hope 
of salvation lay in forestalling the conspirators 
by striking the first blow, the excessive severity 
of the measures he adopted is indefensible. 
Nothing can excuse or attenuate the wholesale 
massacre of a defenceless population, and once 
the Spanish commander had the Mexican en- 
voys and a certain number of Cholulan chiefs 
and priests securely in his powder, he held suffi- 
cient hostages for his own safety. Upon these 
instigators of treachery, his vengeance might 
justly have fallen. 

In a chapter devoted to his interesting and 
instructive reflections on this, one of the saddest 
and most regrettable incidents of the conquest, 
Prescott traces its justification back to tlie 
foundation on which the right of all or any con- 
quest rested at the time. The research might, 
however, be logically carried still further back 
to the elemental instinct in every man to pro- 
tect his life at all costs. It does not seem likely 
that Cortes sought w^arrant for his action at 
Cholula, in papal bulls or theological opinions. 
He and his men had been lured by fair words 
into a populous city, whose people were secretly 



1 68 Fernando Cortes 

preparing to entrap and annihilate them, and 
their intention was to extricate themselves from 
the trap and administer such chastisement as 
would effectually prevent a repetition of such 
treachery. Once the barrier was down and the 
Tlascalan allies were loose in their ancient 
enemy's town, no effort, even had one been made, 
would have sufficed to check their ferocity, while 
the not unnatural sentiment of the resentful 
Spaniards was that the Cholulans merited all 
they suffered. 

The merciless slaughter was brought to an 
end by the petition of some of the nobles and 
chief priests, who j)rotested that they had taken 
no part in the plot and who humbly implored 
mercy for themselves and their countrymen. 
The Tlascalans, surfeited with blood and booty 
were called off and sent out of the city to cele- 
brate their triumph in their own fashion. Two 
of the captive lords who were released and 
charged to bring back all the inhabitants who 
had fled, succeeded in accomplishing their diffi- 
cult mission, and within twenty days the life 
of the city resumed its normal course.^ 

Cortes described Cholula in his second letter 
to Charles V. in the following terms: 

This city of Ghurultecal is situated in a plain 
and has as many as twenty thousand houses in the 

^Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 218; Andres de Tapia, 
Relacion; Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixxxiii.; Gomara, cap. Ix. 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre 169 

body of the city, and as many more in the out- 
skirts. It is an independent state and has its recog- 
nised boundaries, and they do not obey any chiefs 
but govern themselves like the Tlascaltecas. The 
people are better clothed in some ways than the 
Tlascaltecas, because their honoured citizens all 
wear albornoces ^ above their clothing, though these 
differ from those of Africa in having pockets, but 
in the making, the stuff, and the borders, they are 
very similar. They have all been and are, since 
the recent occurrence, very faithful vassals to Your 
Majesty, and very obedient in all that I required 
and commanded of them in Your Royal name; and 
I believe that henceforth they will remain so. This 
city has very fertile fields, for they possess much 
land, of which the greater part is irrigated; seen 
from the outside the city is more beautiful than the 
cities of Spain, because it is very flat, and con- 
tains many towers, for I certify to Your Highness 
that from a mosque, I counted four hundred and 
odd towers in the city, and all belonged to mosques." 
It is the best adapted city for Spaniards to live in, 
of any I have seen since leaving the port, as it 
has some uncultivated lands and water-supply suit- 
able for the purpose of raising cattle, such as no 
other we have thus far seen. For, such is the mul- 
titude of people who live in these parts, that there 
is not a palm of land which is not cultivated, and 
even then, there are many places where they suffer 

1 Meaning the bournous or mantle commonly worn by 

the Moors. 

2 All non-Christian places of worship except Jewish 
synagogues were designated mosques by the Spaniards. 



1 7° Fernando Cortes 

for want of bread; and there are many paupers 
who beg amongst the rich in the streets and at 
the market-places, jnst as the poor do in Spain 
and other civilised countries. 

Had the massacre been dictated by the policy 
of terrorising the natives, as Las Casas suggested, 
that object could not have been more fully at- 
tained. Montezuma was thrown into a panic of 
abject fear that still further bewildered his judg- 
ment in his dealings with the invaders. He had 
recourse to singular penances, and gave himself 
entirely into the hands of priests and magicians. 
He denied all knowledge of the Cholulan con- 
spiracy, and his ambassadors continued to come 
and go between the capital and the Spanish 
camp, using every argument to divert Cortes 
from his determination to see their imperial mas- 
ter, but also making preparations for his advance 
which they saw was inevitable. Seeing that 
neither protests nor persuasion availed, three of 
Montezuma's agents remained permanently with 
the Spaniards to act as guides and purveyors 
for the army. The Tlascalans offered a large 
force of warriors, of which Cortes only accepted 
one thousand, while the Cempoallan chiefs were 
seized with fears of the Aztec monarch's ven- 
geance and excused themselves from appearing 
in his capital. They were dismissed with a 
share of the booty and some acceptable presents 
for their cacique, and quit Cholula, bearing de- 
spatches for Juan de Escalante at Vera Cruz. 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre 171 

During the stay of the Spaniards in Cholula, 
the great volcano of Popocatepetl ^ was in active 
eruption, — a phenomenon that exercised no small 
influence on the suj)erstitious natives, who dei- 
fied the mountain and its neighbour Ixtaccihu- 
atl; the crater of Popocatepetl was thought 
to be the abode of the tormented spirits of wicked 
kings. Cortes chose ten men under command 
of Diego de Ordaz to undertake the ascent of 
the volcano and make a report to him on the 
eruption, which continued night and day, and 
was accompanied by tremendous detonations 
and subterranean rumblings. Several Indians 
were found to accompany the expedition as 
guides for a part of the way, though beyond 
a certain point, no force could induce them to 
advance. The Spaniards mounted somewhat 
higher, but were obliged by the masses of snow 
underfoot and the shower of hot ashes that 
rained down on them to renounce their perilous 
intention of reaching the brink of the crater. 
They brought back snow and icicles with them 
to regale their comrades in the tropical heat 
below, and their feat contributed to still further 
enhance their reputation as teules, who knew 
no fear. Diego de Ordaz was, afterwards, 
granted a smoking volcano in his arms to com- 
memorate this first ascension of the Popocatepetl. 

1 Popocatepetl signifying in the Mexican language 
" smoking mountain." Humboldt gives its height as 5400 
metres. Ixtaccihuatl means the white woman. 



172 Fernando Cortes 

Ordaz reported to Cortes that lie and liis men had 
obtained an extensive view of the valley of 
Mexico, with its lakes and cities, and had also 
discovered a very good road leading thither. 

This exploit of Ordaz and his men has evoked 
the astonishment of many writers. Had these 
men not enough hardship and perils, but they 
must needs go in search of more adventures 
amidst the eternal ice and fire of the mysterious 
mountain? Divested of the somewhat fanciful 
trappings with which poetry and fiction have 
draped him, the Spanish adventurer of the six- 
teenth century still remains a strangely pic- 
turesque and dashing creature, whose exploits 
command our interest, even when his motives 
do not merit our applause. Many influences 
were necessary to produce his type. From his 
immediate forebears who had, after heroic 
struggles, freed Spain from the last vestige of 
Moorish domination, he inherited an ardent 
patriotism so closely bound up with religion 
that he himself, at least, was incapable of sepa- 
rating the two sentiments. Soldier of Spain 
and soldier of the Cross, for the Cross was the 
standard of a militant Christianity of which 
Spain was the truest exponent, his religion, 
devoutly believed in but intermittently prac- 
tised, inspired his ideals, without suflflcieutly 
guiding his conduct. Ofttimes brutal, he was 
never vulgar, while as a lover of sheer daring 
and of danger for danger's sake, he has never 



Cholulan Conspiracy and Massacre 173 

been eclipsed. The army of Cortes contained 
its fair share of the best and worst examples of 
this type. These men, seen in their distant 
perspective, seem to us to move in an aura of 
romance, and even the most cut-and-dried chroni- 
cle of their deeds reads more like a troubadour's 
tale than the sober pages of history. 



CHAPTER VII 

IN THE AZTEC CAPITAL 

Approach to Mexico — On the Causeway — Meeting with 
Montezuma — Montezuma's Discourse — The Market- 
place — Temple of Tlatelolco — Seizure of Montezuma 
— Perfidy of Cortes 

ON the first day of November, the Spanish 
force accompanied by its Indian allies 
marched out of Cholula on the road to the city 
of Mexico. There had been some discussion 
about the better road to follow, for, after a cer- 
tain distance from Cholula the highway divided, 
and, while each of the branches led to the capi- 
tal, one was described as better and shorter 
than the other. At different places along the 
line of march, deputations from tribes and towns 
met Cortes to present gifts of gold and pro- 
visions, and to render him homage. The Tlas- 
calans had warned him against taking the road 
proposed by the Aztec ambassadors, saying that 
it would surely lead him into some ambush, as 
Montezuma was determined to destroy the white 
men before they reached his capital. As has 
been said, Cortes never under any circumstances 
relaxed his vigilance, and this information 
merely resulted in more stringent orders to his 
men to be constantly on the alert against a 
possible surprise. 

174 



In the Aztec Capital 175 

The first halting place was Guajocingo,^ 
whose people were hostile to the Aztecs. The 
chiefs received the Spaniards with generous 
hospitality and, in conversation with the com- 
mander, warned him against Montezuma's 
treacherous character, repeating the assurance 
of the Tlascalans, that he would find one of 
the roads to Mexico blocked up with magueys 
and felled trees. They added that the obstructed 
road was the one he ought to take, though 
the Mexicans had arranged to lead him by 
the other one, where their warriors were wait- 
ing in concealment to attack him if the chance 
offered. On arriving, the next day, at the divi- 
sion of the roads, one of them was found, as 
had been described, blocked up with magueys 
and tree trunks. The Mexican ambassadors 
explained that although the open road was in 
fact somewhat longer, it led continuously 
through Mexican territory to Chalco, whereas 
the other traversed the country of Guajocingo, 
where, as the Spaniards knew, Montezuma had 
no jurisdiction and hence could not provide for 
their entertainment. Cortes decided, however, 
to abide by his original decision and to march 
by the shorter road, so he ordered the obstacles 
cleared away and continued mounting the lofty 
pass between the two volcanoes. The cold be- 

1 Also spelled Huexotzinco and Huejocingo. The spell- 
ing of Mexican names is variable amongst the early- 
Spanish writers. 



176 Fernando Cortes 

came intense, but before night came on, the 
army reached a commodious building of 
stone where the men could take shelter, 
and where great fires were lighted for their 
comfort.^ 

At this place, Cortes was met by a personage 
who was represented to him as the brother of 
Montezuma,- accompanied by other dignitaries 
and attendants, bearing rich presents and gold 
to the value of three thousand dollars. All the 
former unavailing arguments to prevent the 
Spaniards from advancing were again rehearsed 
and the formal offer of whatever sum Cortes 
miglit fix as a yearly tribute, was made; the 
amount would be delivered at the seacoast or 
wherever he might direct. 

Cortes replied that did it lie with him to 
abandon his visit to Mexico, he would yield, 
with pleasure, to the wishes of Montezuma but 
he had been sent by his sovereign for the ex- 
press purpose of visiting the Emperor in his 
capital that he might render a full report based 

^Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 224; Sahagun, lib. xii., 
cap. xii. 

2 This embassy is somewhat differently described in the 
Mexican version quoted by Sahagun, Torquemada, and 
other early writers who collected information from native 
sources shortly after the conquest. These writers state 
that Montezuma chose a man who closely resembled him, 
and sent him to Cortes to represent himself as the Aztec 
emperor. Cortes enquired of his Cempoallan and Tlas- 
calan allies if the man was really Montezuma, and they 
assured him that he was not. 



In the Aztec Capital 177 

on his own observations, and hence he was not 
at liberty to disregard these orders. The King 
of Spain had long since had news of the Mex- 
ican empire and its ruler, with whom he desired 
Cortes to establish personal relations and not 
through any third party, be he even Montezuma's 
own brother. He added the assurance that 
great profit and advantage would redound to 
the Emperor from his visit and that his appre- 
hensions were groundless. Once he had seen 
and spoken with him, he would, if Montezuma 
so desired, immediately withdraw from the city. 
With this refusal, suaviter in modo sed fortiter 
in re, the embassy departed, after receiving the 
usual gift of beads and trinkets. Still fearful 
of some ambuscade or treacherous attack, Cortes 
warned the Mexican ambassadors that his men 
were prepared day and night, and that they 
would do well to notify all their people that 
any one who approached the camp after sunset 
would be immediately killed. Fifteen natives 
who prowled about, doubtless to satisfy their 
curiosity, were in fact killed that same night, 
and even Cortes himself, when making his usual 
rounds to inspect the guard, just escaped being 
fired on by a sentry, to whom he did not give 
the password with sufficient promptness.^ 

Resuming their march, the Spaniards arrived 
at Amecameca, in the province of Chalco, on 

^ Relacion de Andres de Tapia; Herrera, dec. ii., lib. vii., 
cap. iv.; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xli. 



178 Fernando Cortes 

the third of November. The lord of the place 
assigned his guests quarters in the palace and 
loaded them with rich presents, amongst which 
figured forty female slaves of great beauty and 
richly dressed.^ 

The province of Chalco had been recently con- 
quered by the Mexicans, after much bloodshed, 
and was held in subjection by force, hence its 
people were not loyal subjects to be counted upon 
in time of need. They were the first to profit 
by the arrival of the Spaniards in the valley 
to throw off their allegiance. Cortes promised 
them relief and assured them that he had come 
to redress their wrongs and establish justice. 
As the Spaniards gradually, but steadily ap- 
proached the capital, Montezuma fell into a 
state of abject despair; his gods had deserted 
him, his magicians and priests offered him no 
comfort, his lavish presents to the insatiable 
strangers had failed to buy them off and in the 
council of princes and nobles he summoned, 
there prevailed a hopeless diversity of opinion 
as to the policy to adopt towards the oncoming 
invaders. As a forlorn hope, the young King 
of Texcoco, Cacamatzin, was sent to receive 
Cortes, who had meanwhile advanced to Ajot- 
zinco. The King, carried in a gorgeous litter 
adorned with jewels and rich plumes, was 
escorted by a numerous suite. Cortes, in de- 

1 Duran, Hist, de los Indios de Nueva Espana, cap. 
Ixxiii. 



In the Aztec Capital 179 

scribing his meeting with the young monarch, 
says that " They all fell on their knees protest- 
ing so much that it only remained to say that 
they would defend the road by force, if I still 
insisted on going on." ^ The implacable con- 
queror continued his onward march despite 
these entreaties, and next halted at the beauti- 
ful little lake-town of Cuitlahuac, now called 
Tlahua, to which the Spaniards gave the name 
of Venezuela, — little Venice. 

Here they first beheld the famous floating 
gardens called cJiinampas, on which the choicest 
vegetables and most beautiful flowers were cul- 
tivated. They were much impressed by the 
unique charm of this town, which Cortes de- 
scribed to Charles V. as the most beautiful they 
had thus far seen. The mainland had now been 
left behind and the Spaniards found themselves 
on one of the splendid causew^ays that gave 
access to the capital. The last stopping place 
was the stately city of Iztapalapan, seven miles 
distant from Mexico, of which the chief glory 
was its botanical and zoological gardens, with 
reservoirs full of all kinds of fish, such as no 
town in Europe possessed at that time. Cortes 
describes it as follows: 

This city of Iztapalapan has some twelve or fif- 
teen thousand households and stands on the shore of 
a great salt lake, half of it [the city] in the water 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 227. 



i8o Fernando Cortes 

and the other half on land. Its chief has some 
new houses which, though still unfinished, are as 
good as the best in Spain ; I say as large and well 
constructed, not only in the stone work but also in 
the wood work, and all arrangements for every kind 
of household service, all except the relief work and 
other rich details which are used in Spanish houses 
but are not found here. There are both upper and 
lower rooms and very refreshing gardens, with 
many trees and sweet scented flowers, bathing 
places of fresh water, well constructed and having 
steps leading down to the bottom. He also has a 
large garden round his house, in which there is a 
terrace with many beautiful corridors and rooms, 
and within the garden is a great pool of fresh water, 
very well constructed, with sides of handsome 
masonry, around which runs an open walk with 
well-laid tile, pavements, so broad that four per- 
sons can walk abreast on it, and four hundred 
paces square, making in all sixteen hundred paces. 
On the other side of this promenade, towards the 
wall of the garden, it is all surrounded by a lattice 
work of canes, behind which are arbours, planted 
with fragrant shrubs. The pool contains many 
fish and water fowl, such as ducks, cranes, and 
other kinds of aquatic birds, in such numbers that 
the surface is covered with them. 

Four thousand casteUanos of gold enriched 
the Spanish treasure-chest, besides the usual 
raiment of delicate cotton stuffs, feather- work, 
and some female slaves, but with the Aztec capi- 
tal before his eyes, the magnificeut hospitality 



In the Aztec Capital 



isi 



of the lord of Iztapalapan, Cuitlaliiiatzin, was 
impotent to detain Cortes in that city of delight 
for longer than one day. More messengers from 
the court had arrived to make the final arrange- 
ments for his formal entrance into Mexico the 
following day. Objections were raised to the 
admission of the Indian allies, who all belonged 
to tribes hostile to, or in rebellion against Mon- 
tezuma, but Cortes overruled these, saying that 
his Indian friends did not accompany him as 
warriors, but to assist in carrying his baggage 
and artillery. Other fictitious obstacles were 
likewise disposed of and, on the morning of 
Tuesday the eighth of November, the Spanish 
force set out from Iztapalapan, on the last stage 
of the memorable march that brought the 
civilisation of the two worlds face to face. 

The great causeway that joined the Aztec 
capital to the mainland was broad enough for 
eight horsemen to ride abreast. Three of these 
highways gave access to the city; that by which 
the Europeans first entered, forms the founda- 
tion of the present road known as Calzada de 
Iztapalapan, merging into the street called El 
Rastro.^ 

The Spanish force had originally numbered 
about four hundred men when Cortes set out 
from Vera Cruz, but, fifty at least, had fallen 
during the fighting in Tlascala, thus reducing 

1 Humboldt, Essai Politique, torn ii., p. Ivii.; Alaman, 
Segunda Disertacion. 



1 82 Fernando Cortes 

the number to not more than three hundred 
and fifty. Six thousand Tlascalans, a few Cem- 
poallans, and others made up the procession that 
marched amidst the countless thousands of 
Mexicans, who lined the causeway and even cov- 
ered the surface of the lake in their number- 
less canoes. The scene on which the Spaniards 
gazed was, beyond question, one of the most 
wonderful and beautiful ever offered to man's 
contemplation. The panorama of the great 
lakes bordered by populous towns, the walls of 
whose houses were covered with white lime- 
wash of such brilliancy that they glittered like 
silver in the dazzling sunlight, spread before 
them. The valley of Mexico to-day, despite the 
changes in its configuration, the destruction of 
its magnificent forests, and the shrinkage of its 
fair lakes, still offers the traveller a spectacle 
of surprising beauty, on which none can gaze 
without feelings of rapturous admiration. What 
it must have been when the Spaniards first be- 
held it, requires no great exercise of the imagi- 
nation to realise. Besides the glowing and 
perhaps sometimes extravagant accounts of the 
conquerors, the testimony of soberer writers who 
beheld the valley immediately after the conquest 
has been transmitted to us, corroborating unani- 
mously the essential facts of the more fervid 
descriptions. Cortes himself has told in the 
terse language of a soldier the events of that 
memorable day, and, though abler writers have 



In the Aztec Capital 183 

since built upon and enriched liis narrative with 
the graces of more perfect literary style, none 
have composed a more impressive description of 
his first meeting with Montezuma: 

Having gone half a league, I reached another 
causeway, leading into the lake a distance of two 
leagues to the great city of Temistitan,^ which 
stands in the midst of the said lake. This cause- 
way is two lances broad, and so well built that 
eight horsemen can ride abreast; and within these 
two leagues, there are three cities on one and the 
other side of the said causeway, one called Mesi- 
calzinco, founded for the greater part within the 
said lake, and the other two, called Nyciaca and 
Huchilohuchico,^ on the other shore of it, with 
many of their houses on the water. The first of 
these cities may have three thousand families, the 
second more than six thousand, and the third, four 
or five thousand. In all of them there are very 
good edifices of houses and towers, especially the 
residences of the lords and chief persons, and the 
mosques or oratories where they keep their idols. 
These cities have a great trade in salt, which they 
make from the water of the lake, and the crust of 
the land bathed by the lake, and which they boil 
in a certain manner, making loaves of salt, which 
they sell to the inhabitants in the neighbourhood. 

1 The Aztec name was Tenochtitlan or Mexico-Tenoch- 
titlan. An explanation of the etymology of this name is 
given in the third chapter. 

1 Cortes conquered the people of Mexico but he never 
mastered their language. These towns were Mexicalzinco, 
Huitzilopocho, and Coyohuacan. 



v/ 



1 84 Fernando Cortes 

I followed the said causeway for about half a 
league before I came to the city proper of Temix- 
titan. At the junction of another causeway, which 
joins this one from the mainland, I found an- 
other strong fortification, with two towers sur- 
rounded by walls twelve feet high with castellated 
tops. This commands the two roads and has only 
two gates, by one of which they enter and from 
the other they come out. About one thousand of 
the principal citizens came out to meet me and 
speak to me, all richly dressed alike, according to 
their fashion; and when they came, each one in 
approaching me, and before speaking, would use 
a ceremony that is very common amongst them, 
putting his hand on the ground and afterwards 
kissing it, so that I was kept waiting almost an 
hour, until each had performed his ceremony. In 
the very outskirts of the city there is a wooden 
bridge, ten paces broad, across an opening in the 
causeway, where the water may flow in and out 
as it rises or falls. The bridge is also for defence, 
for they remove and replace the long, broad wooden 
beams of which it is constructed, whenever they 
wish; and there are many of these bridges in the 
city, as Your Highness will see in the account that 
I shall make of its affairs. 

Having crossed this bridge, we were received by 
that lord, Montezuma, accompanied by about two 
hundred chiefs, all barefooted and dressed in a kind 
of livery, very rich, according to their custom, and 
some more so than others. They approached in two 
processions near the walls of the street, which is 
very broad, and straight, and beautiful, and very 
uniform from one end to the other, being about two 



In the Aztec Capital 185 

thirds of a league long and having very large houses, 
both dwelling-places and mosques on both sides. 
Montezuma came in the middle of the street, with 
two lords, one on the right side and the other on the 
left, one of whom was the same great lord, who, 
as I said, came in that litter to speak with me; 
and the other was the brother of Montezuma, lord 
of the city of Iztapalapan, whence I had come that 
day. All were dressed in the same manner, except 
that Montezuma was shod, and the other lords were 
barefooted. Each supported him below his arms 
and as we approached each other, I descended from 
my horse and was about to embrace him, but the two 
lords in attendance prevented me, and they and he 
also, made the ceremony of kissing the ground. 
This done, he ordered his brother who came with 
him, to remain with me and fake me by the arm, and 
the other attendant walked a little ahead of us. 
After he had spoken to me, all the other lords who 
formed the two processions, also saluted me, one 
after another, and then returned to the procession. 
When I approached to speak to Montezuma, I took 
off a collar of pearls and glass diamonds, that I 
wore, and put it on his neck, and after we had 
gone through some of the streets, one of his servants 
appeared bringing two collars of shells, wrapped 
in a cloth, which were made of coloured shells. 
These they esteem very much, and from each of the 
collars hung eight golden shrimps a span long, and 
executed with great perfection. When he received 
them, he turned towards me and put them on my 
neck, and again went on through the streets, as I 
have already indicated, until we came to a large 
and handsome house, which he had prepared for our 



1 86 Fernando Cortes 

reception. There he took me by the hand, and led 
me into a spacious room in front of the court where 
we had entered, where he made me sit on a very 
rich platform which had been ordered to be made 
for him, and, telling me to wait there, he then 
went away. 

After a little while, when all the people of my 
company were distributed to their quarters, he re- 
turned with many valuables of gold and silver work, 
and five or six thousand pieces of rich cotton stuffs, 
woven and embroidered in divers ways. After he 
had given them to me, he sat down on another plat- 
form, which they immediately prepared near the one 
where I was seated, and being seated, he spoke in 
the following manner: "We have known since a 
long time, from the chronicles of our forefathers, 
that neither I, nor those who inhabit this country, 
are descendants from the aborigines of it, but from 
strangers, who came to it from very distant regions ; 
and we also hold, that our race was brought to these 
parts by a lord, whose vassals they all were and who 
returned to his native country. After a long time 
he came back, but so much time had elapsed, that 
those who remained here were married with the 
native women of the country and had many de- 
scendants, and had built towns where they were 
living ; when, therefore, he wished to take them away 
with him, they would not go, nor still less receive 
him as their ruler, so he departed. And we have 
always held that his descendants would come to 
subjugate this country and us, as his vassals; and 
according to the direction from which you say you 
come, which is where the sun rises, and from what 
you tell us of your great lord, or king, who has 



In the Aztec Capital 187 

sent you here, we believe and hold for certain that 
he is our rightful sovereign, especially as you tell us 
that since many days he has had news of us. Hence 
you may be sure that we shall obey you and hold 
you as the representative of this great lord of 
whom you speak, and that in this there will be no 
lack or deception ; and throughout the whole country 
you may command at your will (I speak of what I 
possess in my dominions) because you will be 
obeyed and recognised, and all we possess is at 
your disposal. 

" Since you are in your rightful place and in your 
own homes, rejoice and rest, free from all the 
trouble of the journey and the wars you have had, 
for I am well aware of all that has happened to 
you, between Puntunchan and here, and I know 
very well that the people of Cempoal and Tascal- 
tecal have told you many evil things respecting 
me. Do not believe more than you see with your 
own eyes, especially from those who are my enemies 
and were my vassals, yet rebelled against me on 
your coming, as they say, in order to help you. 1 
know they have told you also that I have houses 
with walls of gold, and that the furniture of my 
halls and other things of my service are also of gold, 
and that I am, or make myself, a god, and many 
other things. The houses you have seen are of lime 
and stone and earth." And then he held up his 
robes and showing me his body he said to me, " Look 
at me and see that I am flesh and bones the same 
as you and everybody, and that I am mortal and 
tangible." And touching his arms and body with 
his hands " Look how they have lied to you ! It is 
true indeed that I have some things of gold which 



i88 Fernando Cortes 

have been left to me by my forefathers. All that 
I possess, yon may have whenever you wish. I shall 
now go to other houses where I live; but you will 
be provided here with everything necessary for you 
and your people, and you shall suffer no annoyance, 
for you are in your own house and country." 

I answered to all he said, certifying that which 
seemed to be suitable, especially confirming his belief 
that it was Your Majesty whom they were expect- 
ing. After this, he took his leave, and when he 
had gone, we were w^ell provided with chickens, 
bread, fruits, and other necessaries, especially such 
as were required for the service of our quarters, 
Thus I passed six days well provided with every- 
thing necessary and visited by many of the lords. 

Amazement and satisfaction must have eon- 
tended for the mastery in the mind of Cortes 
as he listened to this singular discourse from a 
sovereign, of whose power he beheld such tan- 
gible proofs. Taken literally, Montezuma's 
speech was an acknow-ledgment of his own 
vassalage to the king of Spain, if not indeed 
of his abdication. Doubtless, however, Cortes 
did not put a strictly literal construction on 
the Emperor's phrases ; superstition may enslave 
the mind without deciding the conduct of its 
victim, and certainly Cortes did not count on 
the Aztec monarch's surrender of his power, 
merely in obedience to the imaginary fulfilment 
of an ancient prophecy, and without resistance.^ 

1 Montezuma's speech reached Cortes through Marina 
and Aguilar, whose best efforts did not exclude inaccuracy. 



In the Aztec Capital i8g 

The customary vigilance was exercised in pla- 
cing the guns so as to command tlie approaches 
and defend the entrances of the Spanish 
quarters; the guards were mounted and every 
precaution taken against the possibility of an 
attack.^ That evening the Spaniards celebrated 
their entry into the capital by firing salvos of 
artillery, the sound and smoke of which spread 
terror through the city, whose inhabitants were 
thus furnished with actual proof that the teules 
commanded the thunder and the lightning.^ 

Accompanied by Pedro de Alvarado, Juan 
Velasquez de Leon, Diego de Ordaz, and Gonzalo 
de Sandoval, Cortes returned Montezuma's visit, 
in state, on Wednesday the ninth of November. 
His escort was composed of five soldiers, of 
whom Bernal Diaz was one. The latter has 
left us an interesting sketch of the Aztec 
monarch's appearance: 

The great Montezuma may have been about 
forty years old,^ of a good height and well pro- 
portioned, slender and not very dark-complexioned, 
but of the regular Indian shade. His hair was just 
long enough to cover his ears, and his beard was 
scanty and thin; his face was full and genial, with 
pleasing eyes. His glance was kindly and, when 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. Ixxxix. ; Relacion de Andres de Tapia; 
Sahagun, lib. xi., cap. xvi.; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xlvi.; 
Gomara, Cronica, cap. xvi., xvii. 

2 Sahagun, lib. xii., cap. xvi. 

2 Born in 1468, Montezuma was fifty-two years old. 



ipo Fernando Cortes 

necessary, grave. He was exquisitely clean, and 
bathed once a day in the afternoon. 



After the formalities exacted by the etiquette 
of the court had been complied with and all 
had taken their places in the Emperor's pre- 
sence, Cortes announced the mission that had 
brought him to Mexico, sent by the King of 
Spain, the greatest monarch in the world. The 
usual exposition of Christian doctrine followed, 
accompanied by an exhortation to the Aztec 
sovereign to renounce the falsehoods of idolatry 
and embrace the Catholic faith. The homily 
was lengthy — perhaps more so than on previous 
occasions. It would be interesting to know in 
just what sense the great truths and mysteries 
of religion reached Montezuma's understanding, 
through the medium of Marina's interpreta- 
tion. She had recited this speech a number of 
times, but just what her comprehension of its 
real meaning was, is also unknown to us. In 
any case it seems to have made small impression- 
on the Emperor, who had been a priest of his 
own religion and was now its of&cial chief as 
well as the head of the state ; it was not possible 
for him to divest himself of his life-long beliefs 
in response to such stammering and mangled ex- 
position of a new doctrine. The greatness of 
his power, the prosperity of his state, and all 
temporal blessings as well as spiritual aspira- 
tions, were centred in the national gods, and 



In the Aztec Capital 191 

in his answer, be dismissed tlie argument by 
admitting tbat tbe Christian God was doubtless 
very good, but bis own deities were equally so 
and tbat tbey must not talk of religion. At tbe 
termination of tbis interview a thousand dollars 
of gold, besides other presents, were distributed 
amongst tbe captains, and to each soldier a 
golden neck-chain was given. Tbe Spaniards 
returned to their quarters, talking of tbe de- 
lightful personality, agreeable conversation, and 
princely generosity of the ruler of Mexico. 

Tbe fourth day after the Christians had taken 
possession of the quarters assigned to them in 
the palace of Axayacatl, Cortes expressed a 
wish to visit the market-place and tbe temple, 
which bis host hastened to gratify. He rode 
at the head of his small troop of horsemen to 
the Tlatelolco quarter, where tbe chief market 
of the city was situated, in the immediate 
neighbourhood of one of the greatest of the 
temples. As no better description of the great 
mart of Tlatelolco has ever been written than 
that penned by Cortes to Charles V., let us 
read tbe first impressions of tbe first European 
who ever beheld tbat novel spectacle. 

There is one square, twice as large as that of 
Salamanca, all surrounded by arcades, where there 
are daily more than sixty thousand souls, buying 
and selling, and where are found all the kinds of 
merchandise produced in these countries, including 
food products, jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, 



192 Fernando Cortes 

copper, zinc, stones, bones, shells, and feathers. 
Stones are sold, hewn and unhewn; adobes, bricks, 
and wood, both in the rough and manufactured in 
various ways. There is a street for game, where 
they sell every sort of bird, such as chickens, par- 
tridges, quails, wild-ducks, fly-catchers, widgeons, 
turtle-doves, pigeons, reed-birds, parrots, eagles, 
owls, eaglets, owlets, falcons, sparrow-hawks, and 
kestrels, and they sell the skins of some of these 
birds of prey with their feathers, heads, beaks, and 
claws. They sell rabbits, hares, and small dogs, 
which latter they castrate and raise for the purpose 
of eating. 

There is a street set apart for the sale of herbs, 
where can be found every sort of root and medicinal 
herb that grows in the country. There are houses 
like apothecary shops, where prepared medicines 
are sold, as well as liquids, ointments, and plasters. 
There are places like our barber shops, where they 
wash, and shave their heads. There are houses 
where they supply food and drink for payment. 
There are men who carry burdens, such as are called 
in Castile porters. There is much wood, charcoal, 
braziers made of earthenware, and mats of divers 
kinds for beds, and others very thin, used as 
cushions and for carpeting halls and bedrooms. 
There are all sorts of vegetables and especially 
onions, leeks, garlic, borage, nasturtium, water- 
cresses, sorrel, thistles, and artichokes. There are 
many kinds of fruits, amongst others, cherries, and 
prunes like the Spanish ones. They sell bees' honey 
and wax, and honey made of corn stalks, which is 
as sweet and syrup-like as that of sugar, also honey 
of a plant called maguey, which is better than 



In the Aztec Capital 193 

most; from these same plants they make sugar and 
wine,^ which they also sell. 

They also sell skeins of different kinds of spun 
cotton, in all colours, so that it seems quite like 
one of the silk markets of Granada, although it is 
on a greater scale; also as many different colours 
for painters as can be found in Spain and of as 
excellent hues. They sell deerskins, with all the 
hair tanned on them, and of different colours ; much 
earthenware, exceedingly good, many sorts of pots, 
large and small, pitchers, large tiles, an infinite 
variety of vases, all of very singular clay, and most 
of them glazed and painted. They sell maize, both 
in the grain and made into bread, which is very 
superior in its quality to that of the other islands 
and mainland ; pies of birds and fish, also much fish, 
fresh, salted, cooked, and raw; eggs of hens, and 
geese, and other birds in great quantity, and cakes 
made of eggs.^ 

Finally, besides those things I have mentioned, 
they sell in the city markets everything else that 
is found in the whole country and which, — on ac- 
count of the profusion and number, do not occur 
to my memory, nor do I describe the things, be- 
cause I do not know their names. Each sort of 

1 The whitish, slippery, fermented liquor called pulque 
is extracted from the maguey and is still the popular 
drink in Mexico; as it must be drunk fresh, special pulque 
trains daily carry supplies to towns along the railway lines. 
Flavoured with pineapple, strawberry, and other fresh 
fruit juices, and well iced, it is a very good drink, whole- 
some, and only intoxicating if drunk immoderately. 

- Given wrongly, as I think, by some translators as 
omelettes. 



194 Fernando Cortes 

merchandise is sold in its respective street and 
they do not mix their kinds of merchandise 
of any species; thus they preserve perfect order. 
Everything is sold by a kind of measure, and until 
now, we have not seen anything sold by weight. 

There is in this square a very large building, like 
a Court of Justice, where there are always ten or 
twelve persons sitting as judges, and delivering their 
decisions upon all cases that arise in the markets. 
There are other persons in the same square who 
go about continually among the people, observing 
what is sold, and the measures used in selling, and 
they have been seen to break some which were false. 

This great city contains many mosques, or houses 
for idols, very beautiful edifices situated in the 
different precincts of it; in the principal ones of 
which, dwell the religious orders of their sect, for 
whom, besides the houses in which they keep their 
idols, there are very good habitations provided. 
All these priests dress in black and never cut or 
comb their hair from the time they enter the relig- 
ious order until they leave it; and the sons of all 
the principal families, both of chiefs as well as of 
noble citizens, are in these religious orders and 
habits from the age of seven or eight • years, till 
they are taken away for the purpose of marriage. 
This happens more frequentl}^ with the first-born 
who inherit the property, than with the others. 
They have no access to women, nor are any allowed 
to enter the religious houses; they abstain from 
eating certain dishes, and more so at certain times 
of the year than at others. 

Prom the market-place Cortes went to the 



In the Aztec Capital 195 

teocalU where Montezuma, who had been carried 
thither in his litter, awaited him. Six men 
were in readiness to spare him the fatigue of 
the ascent by carrying him up the steps, but, re- 
fusing their proffered assistance, he and his 
soldiers marched up the broad staircase to the 
top where the Emperor received him. In reply 
to the courteous observation of Montezuma that 
he must be fatigued by the climb, Cortes an- 
swered, with a touch of bravado that was un- 
usual to him, " Nothing ever tires me or my 
companions." 

From the summit of the teocalli, towering as 
it did above the entire city, an extensive view 
of the capital and its surroundings was offered 
to the Spaniards, who gazed on the beauty of 
the scene with interest, not unmingled with ap- 
prehension roused by the sight of the system of 
canals and bridges, by which they might be com- 
pletely cut off from retreat at Montezuma's 
pleasure. 

The first thought of Cortes, however, was to 
plant a Christian church on the teocalli. Fray 
Bartolome de Olmedo, who was present, objected 
and reasoned so earnestly against a step that 
was obviously premature and also dangerous, 
that the commander consented to refrain from 
mentioning his wish at that time. He asked 
jDermission, however, to see the interior of 
the sanctuaries and, after consulting with the 
priests Montezuma accorded his consent. The 



196 Fernando Cortes 

sight tliat met the eyes of the Spaniards was 
a horrifying one. The gigantic images of 
Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and his com- 
panion deity Tezcatlipoca, decorated with gold 
and precious stones and splashed with human 
gore, stood within the dim sanctuary that reeked 
with the blood of recent sacrifice and the heavy 
fumes of copal incense. On a golden salver lay 
human hearts. 

Revolted by this ghastly spectacle Cortes 
spoke to Montezuma through Marina saying, 
" My lord Montezuma, I know not how so great 
a sovereign and so wise a man as Your Majesty 
should never have perceived that these idols are 
no gods but tlie things of evil, called devils." 
He further asked for permission to cast out the 
idols, cleanse the temple, and erect there a 
cross and a statue of the Blessed Virgin that 
Montezuma had already seen. The consterna- 
tion and anger provoked by this demand were 
very great and Montezuma answered with of- 
fended dignity, " Had I thought, Seiior Malint- 
zin, that you would offer such an insult as 
you have thought well to utter, I would not 
have shown you my gods; we hold them to be 
very good, for they give us health, rains, good 
harvests, victory, and all we desire, hence we 
are bound to adore them and offer them sac- 
rifice. I beg you to dishonour them no further." 
Even Cortes perceived that he had gone too far 
and, changing his tone, he took leave of his host, 



In the Aztec Capital 197 

who remained behind to placate the outraged 
deities with fresh sacrifices. 

The Spaniards, with the Emperor's consent, 
fitted up a chapel in one of the rooms of the 
palace they occupied, where mass was cele- 
brated as long as the limited supply of wine 
held out. The soldiers said their prayers be- 
fore the altar, with its statue of the Blessed 
Virgin and the symbol of the cross, and all 
assembled there for the Angelus. 

While the altar in this improvised chapel 
was being erected, the carpenter discovered a 
masked door which, on being opened, was found 
to lead to a vast hall that served as a treasury. 
In the centre of the floor was a great pile of 
gold and precious stones, while the walls round- 
about were hung with rich stuffs, mantles of 
costly feather- work, shields, arms, and numerous 
ornaments of gold and silver exquisitely worked. 
This hoard was the treasure left by Montezuma's 
grandfather, the Emperor Axayacatl. After 
inspecting the secret treasure-house, Cortes 
ordered the door to be sealed up and the 
discovery never to be mentioned. 

During these first days in the capital, the 
Spaniards were the object of every attention 
and were visited daily by the great nobles of 
the country. Despite such outward seeming, 
the Spanish captains were disquieted by reports 
that reached them through the Tlascalan and 
Cempoallan allies, that treachery was brewing. 



198 Fernando Cortes 

It was asserted that they had finally been 
allowed to enter the city because it would be 
more easy to annihilate them there than else- 
where. Surrounded as they were by countless 
hordes of Montezuma's warriors and vassals, to 
whom his word was law, the gravity of their 
situation became daily more oppressively evi- 
dent to all of them. It was obvious that their 
stay could not be indefinitely prolonged, but it 
was not exactly clear how it was to terminate 
felicitously. If it had been difficult to get into 
the Aztec capital, it seemed even more of an 
undertaking to get out of it alive. The city 
was so planned that exit from it could be 
effectually cut off by raising the bridges; once 
this were done, the little handful of Christians 
would find themselves isolated amidst a vast 
multitude of fierce enemies who, if they did not 
overwhelm them by mere force of numbers, 
might reduce them by thirst and starvation. 
The imminence of their danger prompted Cortes 
to call a meeting of his caj)tains, Juan Velas- 
quez, Pedro de Alvarado, Gonzalo de Sandoval, 
and Diego de Ordaz, at which twelve soldiers ^ 
assisted, to consider the measures necessary for 
their safety. After divers propositions had been 
presented, Cortes exposed the plan he had been 
maturing in his mind, to seize Montezuma and 
bring him to the Spanish quarters, where he 

1 Bernal Diaz del Castillo states that he was one of the 
twelve. 



In the Aztec Capital 199 

would serve as a hostage for the good conduct 
of his subjects. This project, which for sheer 
daring stands alone in history, met with instant, 
if not unanimous approval, and nothing more 
lucidly illustrates the character of the Spanish 
conquerors of that epoch, than the enthusiasm 
with which they acclaimed the maddest under- 
taking ever conceived by a responsible leader. 

Cortes had likewise discovered a pretext, 
flimsy indeed, but sufficient for his purpose, for 
putting his scheme into execution, by referring 
back to a certain report received from Juan de 
Escalante at Vera Cruz, while the army was 
still in Cholula. This report stated that Mon- 
tezuma's lieutenant at Nauthla, by name Quauh- 
popoca, had induced Escalante to send him four 
Spaniards to act as his escort to Vera Cruz, 
where he declared he would offer his allegiance 
to the King of Spain, but whither he was un- 
able to go because he would have to pass through 
hostile provinces, with whose people he did not 
wish to provoke open warfare. When the four 
Spaniards arrived at Nauthla, Quauhpopoca 
killed two of them and the otlier two, after 
barely escaping with their lives, returned to 
report his treachery to Escalante. A punitive 
force was sent, and the town of Nauthla was 
burned, but Quauhpopoca escaped. Escalante 
reported that prisoners taken at Nauthla affirmed 
that Quauhpopoca had declared he had received 
Montezuma's orders, not only for what he had 



200 Fernando Cortes 

done, but also to exterminate the Spanish force 
left behind at Vera Cruz.^ 

So impressed were the Spaniards with the 
rislis of their bold enterprise, that they passed 
the night in prayer and confessed themselves 
to the Mercedarian friar, as though preparing 
for death. On Monday, the fourteenth of No- 
vember, Cortes ordered his men to prepare as 
though for immediate action, the gunners to be 
ready with the artillery and the horsemen in 
their saddles, after which he set out for the 
royal palace accompanied by five or six cap- 
tains fully armed. He also placed small bodies 
of soldiers at different cross-streets to keep the 
way open behind him, while numerous others 
were sent, in twos and threes, to stroll casually 
about the streets near the palace. 

Montezuma received the Spanish commander 
with his usual affable courtesy and, after some 
desultory conversation, in the course of which 
he gave his visitors some presents of gold and 
presented one of his own daughters to Cortes, 
the real object of the visit was disclosed. Cor- 
tes, in exposing the perfidy of Quauhpopoca, de- 
clared that he held Montezuma incapable of 
giving his representative such orders, but that 

1 Letters of Cortes, tom. i., p. 235. The version of this 
affair given by Bernal Diaz, Herrera, and Torquemada 
differs as to the cause of the trouble with Quauhpopoca. 
The essential fact is, that the incident served the purpose 
of Cortes, and we follow his account, which he said he 
received from Escalante. 



In the Aztec Capital 201 

he must answer to his king for the lives of 
those Spaniards and that Montezuma was bound 
to disculpate himself by investigating Quauh- 
popoca's conduct and punishing him as he de- 
served. The Emperor emphatically denied that 
Quauhpopoca had acted with his knowledge or 
authority and, in proof of his sincerity, he then 
and there despatched messengers to Nauthla, 
bearing his seal as a sign of their full powers, 
to bring the offender and his accomplices before 
him without delay. Such ready acquiescence 
in the demands of the Spaniards might seem 
to have blocked the way for further measures 
but Cortes, after waiting till the messengers 
had left, reopened the subject and, without use- 
less phrases, informed the Emperor that until 
Quauhpopoca had been punished, His Majesty 
must consent to change his residence to the 
palace inhabited by himself where, he hastened 
to assure him, he would be perfectly free and 
would be treated with all the respect due to his 
rank. 

Stupefied and indignant at this unheard-of 
proposal, Montezuma replied that such a thing 
was impossible, for even were he disposed to 
consent, his subjects would never permit it. 
During some four hours, the discussion con- 
tinued, until Montezuma, observing the im- 
patient mien of one of the captains and hearing 
his tone, though he could not understand his 
words, turned to Marina for an explanation. 



202 Fernando Cortes 

Marina answered, begging liim to accompany the 
Spaniards quietly and without fear, as he would 
he well and honourably treated, but if he re- 
sisted he w^ould be instantly killed where he 
stood. After the offer of his own children as 
hostages had been peremptorily refused, the 
hapless monarch yielded to his captors and, sum- 
moning his courtiers, he ordered his litter to 
be prepared, explaining that in obedience to an 
oracle of the god of war, he would transfer his 
residence for a time to the palace of Axayacatl. 
Sadly, and with tears in their eyes, his faithful 
attendants bore him forth to his captivity, es- 
corted by the Spaniards, and as the procession 
passed through the streets the people, although 
not yet comprehending its destination or the 
meaning of what was happening, murmured 
loudly at seeing their sovereign surrounded by 
the armed white men. The rising disturbance 
was checked at the outset by an order from the 
Emperor, commanding the populace to remain 
tranquil.^ 

Thus was the imprisonment of Montezuma 
effected. If the audacity of Cortes quickens 
our involuntary admiration, it need not blind 
us to the unspeakable perfidy of this act. Re- 
peatedly during his march from the seacoast to 
the valley of Mexico, he had given his solemn 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 238; Bernal Diaz, cap. xcv.; 
Gomara, Cronica, cap. Ixxxiii.; Relacion de Andres de 
Tapia; Clavigero, Storia Antica de Mexico, torn, ii., p. Ixxi. 



In the Aztec Capital 203 

promise to the Emperor that his visit would be 
productive of nothing but what was good and 
advantageous to him and his people. He had 
represented himself, falsely, as the accredited 
ambassador of a great and distant king, charged 
to deliver messages of friendship to the Aztec 
monarch ; he had been loaded with princely gifts 
and treated with royal hospitality, for all of 
which he protested that he would repay with 
" good deeds," — buenas ohras; if the Emperor 
had sought to evade his unwelcome visit and had 
thrown obstacles in the way of his march, it 
cannot be denied that he was perfectly within 
his rights, and both his fears which were great, 
and his forebodings of evil which were greater, 
were more than justified, as well by what he 
already knew of the Spaniards as by what he 
was later to suffer at their hands. 

Orozco y Berra observes that had Cortes thus 
violated his faith in treating with a European, 
he would have been ashamed of himself, but as he 
was dealing with an idolater, a barbarian, an In- 
dian, he admitted such acts of perfidy as the 
subtleties of genius.^ If success achieved by 
imposture, deceit, and audacity is worthy of 
commendation, this achievement of Cortes must 
command our applause. Ignorant, doubtless of 
the letter, he guided his course by the spirit 
of a crafty maxim of Louis XI. : Qui nescit 
dissimulare nescit regnare. 

1 Conquista de Mexico, torn, iv., p. 316. 



CHAPTER VIII 

MONTEZUMA A PRISONER 

Quauhpopoca — Acolhuacan — Vassalage of Montezuma — 
The Great Temple — The Idols Overthrown — Monte- 
zuma's Warning — The Arrival of a Fleet 

ALTHOUGH a prisoner in the Spanish 
quarters, Montezuma was to all outward 
appearance free. He continued to govern, to 
receive his nobles and the ambassadors from 
distant states or his own provinces, while the 
pompous ceremonial of his court suffered no 
interruption. The unfortunate monarch per- 
sisted in maintaining the fiction that he had 
voluntarily changed his abode and, in reply to 
his counsellors and relatives who sought to 
arrange for his escape, he again declared that 
it was the will of the gods that he should re- 
main where he was. More than a fortnight 
passed in this manner, when the messengers 
returned from Nauthla, bringing Quauhpopoca, 
his young son and fifteen nobles of that pro- 
vince, accused of favouring the murder of the 
two Spaniards. They were delivered to Cortes 
who first imprisoned them and then, after a 
brief interrogatory, condemned them to be 
burned alive. All of them had loyally defended 

204 



Montezuma a Prisoner 205 

their sovereign and to the question whether it 
was by Montezuma's orders they had killed the 
Spaniards, they answered no. While this bar- 
barous sentence was being carried out, Cortes 
ordered Montezuma to be put in irons. On the 
square before the palace, the populace gazed in 
silence at the blazing pyre of Quauhpopoca and 
his companions, while within Montezuma's apart- 
ment his devoted courtiers silently wept as they 
knelt to sustain the heavy manacles lest they 
should hurt his legs. When the fatal fires were 
spent, Cortes returned to his royal captive and 
removed the irons, protesting his affection and 
devotion towards him and offering him his 
liberty. Montezuma replied that it was better 
for him to remain where he was, for were he to 
return to his palace, he would be importuned by 
his relatives and nobles to declare open war on 
the Spaniards, whereas he did not wish to bring 
such disaster on his people. 

We are here again confronted by the dif&culty 
of measuring the conduct of Cortes by abstract 
standards of right and wrong. If Quauhpopoca 
acted in obedience to his sovereign's orders, he 
merited no punishment, — much less the supreme 
agony of death by fire. If, on the contrary, his 
action proceeded from his own initiative and 
without the previous authorisation of the Em- 
peror, then Montezuma was free from blame 
and should not have been degraded by the im- 
position of chains. The explanation or defence 



2o6 Fernando Cortes 

of the action of Cortes must be sought, not in 
the moral but in the political order. Kegarded 
as a politic measure to advance the Spanish in- 
terests, nothing could have been wiser and more 
effectual than to demonstrate to the entire na- 
tion that the life of every Spaniard was sacred, 
and to the Emperor that there was no depth of 
humiliation to which he might not be brought. 
That Cortes felt himself vested with a dual 
mission of conquest and conversion, there can 
be no doubt; that the results of that con- 
quest to humanity at large have been beneficial 
is equally positive. If there be a divine law of 
expiation, both in the moral and the natural 
order, that exacts atonement for man's offences 
against his creator and against his fellow-men, 
Montezuma was far from filling the measure 
of his debt by one brief hour of humiliation. 
Bernal Diaz, in reviewing the events of the con- 
quest some forty years later, expressed his belief 
that God's providence had guided Cortes and 
his men in all they did, adding, " There is much 
food here for meditation." 

The most civilised nations of modern times 
have stood by, while deeds of equal arrogance 
have been perpetrated by tlie strong over the 
weak. Examples are within our recent know- 
ledge, and, if the royal dynasties and national 
independence of small states are now suppressed 
by intruding foreigners vrith less barbarity than 
that employed by Cortes, the reason will be 



Montezuma a Prisoner 207 

found, partly in the weaker resistance offered 
and partly in the humaner standards of modern 
warfare, to which all peoples have gradually 
advanced since the sixteenth century. 

After Juan de Escalante was killed at Vera 
Cruz, Cortes had appointed Alonso del Grado to 
fill the post of captain there. The choice was a 
bad one, and it was soon found necessary to 
supplant him by sending Gonzalo de Sandoval to 
take his place. Sandoval was instructed to send 
up two blacksmiths from the coast, and the 
necessary sails, cordage, iron-work, and other 
materials preserved from the sunken fleet, to 
enable Cortes to construct two brigantines on 
the lake of Texcoco. He had promised to build 
these vessels so that Montezuma might see what 
the " water houses " of which he had only seen 
drawings, were like, but the more serious object 
of providing some means of communication with 
the mainland, in case the Mexicans should raise 
the drawbridges, underlay the pretext of divert- 
ing the captive Emperor. 

While Montezuma adapted himself to the 
conditions of his captivity and even amused 
himself at games with his captors, the arrogance 
of the Spaniards increased with their growing 
sense of security and gave great offence to his 
subjects. Most of all did the King of Texcoco 
resent the indignities offered to his brother-sov- 
ereign and the invasive influence of the detested 
strangers in the affairs of the government. 



2o8 Fernando Cortes 

Texcoco, the capital of the kingdom of Acol- 
huacan, stood at the north-eastern extremity of 
the lake of the same name. It rivalled Mexico 
in size and importance, was the centre of Nahua 
culture and has been described as the " Athens " 
of the Aztecs. The triple alliance of Mexico, 
Texcoco, and Tlacopan (Tacuba) formed the 
core of the Aztec empire, where centred the 
civilisation of Anahuac. The kings of Texcoco 
and Tlacopan recognised the King of Mexico as 
their over-lord in war and in the affairs of the 
central administration, but in all other respects 
tliese sovereigns were equal, absolute, and inde- 
pendent in their respective dominions. Texcoco 
was older than Mexico, and Nezahualcoyotl, the 
greatest of its rulers, bore the title of Aculhua 
Tecutl, which Mexican historians define as the 
equivalent of Caesar. This king once declared 
war against Mexico over a trifling question of 
etiquette, sacked the capital, and exacted a 
heavy indemnity. The kingdom was divided 
into seventy-five principalities or lordships, 
something after the feudal system in Europe 
during the Middle Ages. The last king before 
the arrival of the Spaniards, had been Nezahual- 
pilli, a ruler of superior ability, one of the 
greatest princes in Mexican history, who left 
one hundred and forty-five children, of whom 
there were four sons eligible for the succession. 
The electors, under pressure of Montezuma, 
chose the eldest, Cacamatzin, with the result 



Montezuma a Prisoner 209 

that the youngest, Ixtlilxochitl, contested the 
election and plunged the country into civil 
strife from which it emerged divided, and in 
this weakened and distracted state, Cortes 
found it upon his arrival.^ 

Cacamatzin had absented himself from Mex- 
ico after the arrival of the Spaniards and 
refused to respond to Montezuma's invitation, 
sent at the instance of Cortes, to return to the 
city, saying that if he was wanted they knew 
where to find him. A conspiracy to seize him was 
formed with Montezuma's approval, in which his 
own brothers took part and, after being treacher- 
ously captured in his palace in Texcoco, he was 
brought to Mexico where Cortes imprisoned him, 
appointing his brother Cuicuitzcatzin to rule in 
his stead. 

1 The ambitious Ixtlilxochitl, discontented with the por- 
tion he had received, was a permanent pretender to his 
brother's crown and he, as has been stated, secretly sent 
an embassy to Cortes at Cempoalla asking his help and 
offering his own alliance. This afforded Cortes an early 
insight into the internal dissensions of the empire, by 
which he so readily and ably profited (Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. 
ChichiTneca apud Orozco y Berra, torn, iv.) . 

Texcoco rapidly diminished in population and import- 
ance after the conquest, and Thomas Gage, who visited 
it in 1626, found a village containing one hundred Span- 
iards and three hundred Indians, reduced to poverty. 
Great havoc had been wrought by the wanton destruction 
of the magnificent forests of giant cedar trees in the 
neighbourhood. Panfilo de Narvaez accused Cortes of 
using seven thousand cedar beams in the construction of 
his palace alone {Voyage de Thomas Gage, tom. i., cap. 
xiii.). 

14 



2IO Fernando Cortes 

Deeming that the time was ripe to exact from 
Montezuma a formal and public recognition of 
his vassalage to the King of Spain, Cortes pre- 
vailed upon his prisoner to summon all the 
nobles of the empire to ratify his act of sub- 
mission. The unhappy monarch delivered an 
address to the assembled nobles and invited, — 
nay, commanded, — them to obey Cortes for the 
future as the lawful representative of their 
real sovereign, to whom they all, as well as 
himself, must render obedience and tribute. 
This pitiful speech was delivered with such 
emotion of the part of the humbled speaker and 
provoked such an outburst of tears and lamen- 
tations that Cortes, in describing the scene to 
Charles V., concludes by saying, " and I assure 
Your Sacred Majesty that there was not one 
amongst the Spaniards, who heard this dis- 
course, who did not feel great compassion." 

Each of the nobles was enjoined to immedi- 
ately pay his quota of tribute, and imperial mes- 
sengers were sent throughout the provinces to 
collect it. The partition of the vast sum, vari- 
ously calculated by different authorities, led to 
great dissension and much quarrelling amongst 
the Spaniards. According to the original pact 
made amongst themselves, one fifth of the total, 
after deducting the roj'al fifth for the King, was 
assigned to Cortes, but when it came to making 
the distribution, the greatest discontent was 
expressed at the commander's portion. To ap- 



Montezuma a Prisoner 211 

pease the complaints, Cortes renounced his 
fifth to be divided among the poorer soldiers. 
This remarkable man had by this time advanced 
beyond the stage of squabbling over the division 
of spoils, however rich, for his calculations 
already dealt with empire. 

During these weeks, while the Spaniards' 
control was affirming itself over all branches 
of the government and in all the affairs of the 
capital, Cortes had sent different expeditions 
throughout the country, each accompanied by 
Montezuma's agents, who pointed out the where- 
abouts of the gold mines. These expeditions 
had brought back specimens of the precious 
metal. The search for a better harbour than 
that of Vera Cruz was another project that 
occupied the commander's attention and, with 
the aid of a map that Montezuma gave him and 
guided by the Aztecs, one was finally discovered, 
and Juan Velasquez de Leon was sent with fifty 
men to make a settlement on the banks of the 
Coatzacoalco River. 

There remained, however, one national strong- 
hold which the Spaniards had thus far not 
shaken, — the Mexican religion. Neither the 
strenuous methods of conversion employed by 
Cortes, nor the more apostolic system of Fray 
Bartolome de Olmedo had prevailed to win 
Montezuma from his national gods. The ritual 
was daily celebrated in the temples, and human 
sacrifices continued to be offered on the countless 



2 12 Fernando Cortes 

altars of Anahuac. Since his first visit to tlie 
Tlatelolco teocalli, Cortes bad refrained from 
entering the temples, doubtless distrusting his 
powers of self-jcontrol to restrain him from 
committing acts of violence which his saner 
judgment told him would be imprudent. The 
chief temple of the city stood immediately oppo- 
site the Spanish quarters, and the religious rites 
celebrated on the summit of the teocalli must 
have been within full sight of the garrison. 

The great teocalli of the chief temple was 
completed in the form in which the Spaniards 
beheld it, by Montezuma's grandfather, Ahuit- 
zotl, in 1487, when the solemn dedication was 
celebrated by the sacrifice of a vast number of 
human victims, estimated by Torquemada at 
72,344,1 by Ixtlilxochitl at 80,000,^ but more 
credibly fixed by the Tellerian and Vatican 
Codices at the still respectable figure of 20,000. 
Pretexts for wars with various tribes were in- 
vented in order to procure the victims for this 
ghastly hecatomb, and the ceremony of incessant 
slaughter occupied two entire days. 

The exact form and dimensions of the temple 
are not positively known, but it is probable that 
the pyramid was an oblong, measuring some- 
thing over three hundred feet in length at its 
base, and rising in graduated terraces to a 
height of something less than one hundred feet. 

1 Monarchia Indiana, lib. ii., cap. Ixiii. 

2 Historia Chichimeca. 




o 3 



Montezuma a Prisoner 213 

Bernal Diaz ^ says that he counted one hun- 
dred and fourteen steps, and this tallies almost 
exactly with the statement of Andres de Tapia ^ 
that he counted one hundred and thirteen. Ber- 
nal Diaz also measured the pyramids at Cholula 
and Texcoco in the same way, and counted one 
hundred and twenty steps on the former, and 
one hundred and seventeen on the latter, hence, 
if he was accurate, the great pyramid of Mex- 
ico was not the loftiest in the empire. Not one 
of the Spaniards who saw this edifice seems to 
have observed it critically, or to have left a com- 
plete description of it to posterity. They were 
all more impressed with the dreadful significance 
of the horrors they saw within it than with 
the architectural details; all agree that it was 
a most awesome place, in which dark, grue- 
some chambers, smelling like a slaughter-house, 
contained hideous idols, smeared with human 
blood. In these dim recesses, demoniacal priests, 
clad in black robes, with grotesquely painted 
faces framed in blood-clotted locks, celebrated 
their inhuman rites and offered smoking hearts 
on golden salvers to the monstrous deities there 
enthroned. The presiding figure of this theo- 
cratic charnel house was that of the god of war, 
Huitzilopochtli — the humming-bird to the left — 
and of his image Bernal Diaz gives a careful 
description. 

1 Hist. Verdad, cap. viii. 

2 Relacion, p. 582. 



214 Fernando Cortes 

Its face was distorted and had terrible eyes, 
the body was covered with gold and jewels, and 
was wound about with the coils of golden 
serpents; in the right hand was held a bow, 
and in the left a bundle of arrows. Suspended 
from the idol's neck was a necklace of human 
heads and hearts made of gold and silver and 
studded with precious stones, and by its side 
stood the figure of a page, called Huitziton, bear- 
ing a lance and shield, richly jewellel. This 
little statue of the page was carried by the priests 
in battle, and was also on certain occasions 
borne with much pomp through the streets. 
The honours of these altars were shared by 
Tezcatlipoca, — Shining Mirror, — who was called 
" the soul of the world." He was a god of law 
and severe judgment, and was much dreaded. 
His statue was of black obsidian, and suspended 
from his plaited hair, which was confined in a 
golden net, was an ear made of gold, towards 
which tongues of smoke mounted, symbolising as- 
cending prayers. On the summit of the teocaJU 
stood a great cylindrical drum (tlapanhuehuetl) 
made of serpents' skins, which was beaten on 
certain solemn occasions, and as an alarum. It 
was said to give forth a most sinister sound 
which could be heard for miles, and during the 
siege, the Spaniards had sad cause to shudder 
at its fearsome roll, which so frequently an- 
nounced the sacrifice of their captive comrades, 
whose white, naked bodies, w^ere even discernible 



Montezuma a Prisoner 215 

in the dusky procession which moved, in the 
glare of torches and the sacred fires, up the 
terraces of the pyramid on its way to the stone 
of sacrifice. The area of the courtyard, some 
twelve hundred feet square, was paved with 
flat, polished stones, which were so slippery 
the Spaniards' horses could hardly keep their 
footing. Four gates in the surrounding wall, 
called coatepantU, gave entrance to the court- 
yard, one facing each of the cardinal points, 
and over each gate there was kept a store of 
arms in readiness for attack or defence. 

Sahagun ^ enumerates seventy-eight buildings 
inside the wall surrounding the courtyard; they 
comprised chapels, cells for priests, fountains 
for ablutions, quarters for students and attend- 
ants, and a number of smaller teocalU. This 
tallies with the descriptions written by Cortes 
and Bernal Diaz, and makes it evident that the 
grouping of the buildings somewhat resembled 
that of the Kremlin at Moscow or a vast cathe- 
dral close. In one of the temples, the Spaniards, 
after painstaking calculation, estimated that a 
symmetrical pyramid of bones contained one 
hundred and thirty-six thousand human skulls. 
Amongst these temples there was one dedicated 
to Quetzalcoatl, circular in form and having its 
entrance built in imitation of a serpent's open 
mouth. Bernal Diaz says that this was a veri- 

1 Hist, Nueva Espana, torn, i., p. 197. 



2i6 Fernando Cortes 

table hell or abode of demons, in which they 
saw frightful idols, cauldrons of water in which 
to prepare the flesh of the victims, which the 
priests ate, and furnishings like those of a 
butcher's stall ; so that he never called the 
place other than " hell." 

Human sacrifices and cannibalism were prac- 
tised even in honour of the beneficent deity of 
the Toltecs, whose mild teachings, pure life, and 
aversion to war almost persuade us that he 
may have been a Christian bishop. Nothing 
more conclusively proves that, in spite of their 
material prosperity, their extended empire, and 
a certain refinement in their social life, the 
Aztecs occupied a much loVer moral and intellec- 
tual level than did their Toltec predecessors in 
Anahuac. From the Toltecs they had received 
the foundations of their civilisation; all that 
was good in their religion or true in their philo- 
sophy, all that was known amongst them of 
science, they received from that mysterious race 
whose only records are a few neglected and 
almost unknown ruins. 

It was this great temple that Cortes visited 
some five months after his arrival in the city. 
The repeated discussions with Montezuma on 
religion had not visibly advanced his conversion, 
and the patience of Don Fernando was ex- 
hausted. His arrival, accompanied by ten of 
his men, immediately attracted a crowd of peo- 
ple, in addition to the priests and servants of 



Montezuma a Prisoner 217 

the temple. After glancing into the foul- 
smelling and blood-stained sanctuary, where he 
beheld in the gloomy recesses the bulky forms of 
bejewelled idols such as he had before seen at 
Tlatelolco, Cortes drew back exclaiming, " Oh, 
God, why dost Thou permit the devil to be so 
honoured in this land ! " 

Human life was cheap in the eyes of Cortes, 
and the cruelties inflicted on the natives in the 
furtherance of his designs show that it was not 
the inhumanity of the sacrifices that filled him 
with the most abhorrence. It was the sight of 
idolatry, of people given over to devil worship, 
that inflamed his Catholic blood, and there 
seenis, on this occasion, to have been no friar 
Olmedo at hand to restrain him, as in Cholula. 
He first called the priests together and de- 
livered a pious exhortation, explaining the 
fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of mankind, 
and other Christian beliefs, conjuring them to 
abandon superstitions that imperilled their im- 
mortal souls, to purify their altars and dedicate 
them to the true God and the Saints. As the 
priests defended their own, the controversy en- 
raged Cortes beyond control, and, seizing an 
instrument, he began smashing the idols right 
and left, with such magnificent fury that Andres 
de Tapia afterwards declared that he seemed 
like a supernatural being. Montezuma was 
notified and hastened to entreat him, for pru- 
dence' sake, to desist, as such profanation would 



2i8 Fernando Cortes 

provoke an upraising of the people. Cortes, 
however, was deaf to remonstrance, and the idols 
were cast out, the temple washed and put in 
order, two altars being set up, one to Our Lady 
and the other to St. Christopher, with their 
respective statues placed upon them. Mass was 
thenceforth said there, and some of the Indians 
came to the ceremony, as they wanted rain and, 
their own gods being overthrown, they were 
willing to invoke the God of the Spaniards, 
Cortes declared they should have rain, and, 
with the most confident faith, ordered prayers 
and a procession to obtain this blessing; al- 
though the procession set forth under a cloud- 
less sky, it returned after mass in such a 
downpour that the people waded ankle deep in 
the streets. Malintzin's religion was vin- 
dicated.^ 

Although the power of the Spaniards over 
the city had increased, their prestige diminished 
as they came to be better known. No longer 
teules in the popular imagination, they de- 
scended to the ordinary level of men, — of a 
different race, endowed with extraordinarily 
fearless courage and armed with invincible 
weapons, — but after all mortal men, with their 
fair share of the worst qualities observable in 
human nature. The horses were seen to be 

1 Andres de Tapia, Relacion, pp. 584-6; Bernal Diaz, cap. 
cvii.; Gomara, cap. Ixxxvi.; Torquemada, lib. iv., cap, liv.; 
Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, cap. Ixxxvii. 



Montezuma a Prisoner 219 

animals, not even of a ferocious and blood- 
thirsty character, but well trained and docile 
and, with the fall of the legend ascribing the 
semi-divinity of Quetzalcoatl to the strangers, 
the Mexicans began to ask themselves by what 
right were outrages on their national gods, the 
captivity of their sovereign and the thinly dis- 
guised pillaging, under the name of tribute, 
being tolerated amongst them. The destruction 
of the idols had profoundly affected the Emperor, 
whose manner towards the Spaniards underwent 
a change from that time forth. 

One day the monarch sent for Cortes and his 
captains and, on their arrival, communicated to 
them his grave fears for their safety if they 
prolonged their stay in the city. The desecra- 
tion of the national temple had profoundly 
stirred the resentment of his subjects; the 
priests demanded reparation, and interpreted 
oracles from their gods that commanded the 
people to rise against the offending strangers 
and drive them back into the sea from whence 
they had come. He therefore urged his un- 
popular visitors to depart at once before it was 
too late, otherwise they would never leave the 
city alive. 

Cortes thanked the monarch for his warning, 
and declared himself ready to go, but before 
he could do so, it was necessary to build three 
ships at Vera Cruz to transport his men, and 
for this purpose he asked for some native work- 



2 20 Fernando Cortes 

men, carpenters and others, to assist his peo- 
ple to complete the ships more quickly. He 
informed Montezuma that when the Spaniards 
left he must also accompany them, in order 
to present himself before the King of Spain ; 
meanwhile he must restrain the excitement 
amongst his subjects until the vessels were 
ready. Montezuma agreed to furnish the work- 
men, who departed in company with the two 
Spanish carpenters for Vera Cruz. The Span- 
ish force had been considerably reduced in 
number by the departure of Velasquez de Leon 
with more than one hundred men to found the 
settlement on the Coatzacoalco River. Rodrigo 
Rangel with a number of others, was absent 
in the neighbourhood of Chinantla, where he 
and his men were engaged in laying out a plan- 
tation for the Spanish King, while several other 
smaller parties were scouring the provinces to 
collect tribute and search for gold mines. The 
occasion doubtless seemed opportune to Mon- 
tezuma for the proposal he made, but these 
conditions likewise explain the unusually pliant 
attitude of Cortes and the nature of his reply It 
was of the first importance to reunite his scat- 
tered forces, and for this, time must be gained. 
At this juncture of affairs, the complexion of 
everything was suddenly altered by an unex- 
pected event at Vera Cruz. Eight days after 
the departure of the carpenters for the coast, 
the arrival of several Spanish vessels was re- 



Montezuma a Prisoner 221 

ported to Montezuma by his governors in those 
provinces. These reports, in the form of 
picture-writings, accurately represented eigh- 
teen ships, the number of people the painters 
had seen disembark, together with their 
horses, arms, and other details. Montezuma 
showed the pictures to Cortes, telling him that 
he would no longer need to build more ships, 
since his men would find place on those of the 
fleet recently arrived. The news spread through 
the Spanish quarters where it was received with 
an outburst of joyous relief; until the tension 
of the past few days was relaxed, no one had 
quite realised its severity. A salvo of ar- 
tillery was fired and the men gave themselves 
up to festivity and rejoicing. . Cortes shared 
the general confidence that a relief expedition 
had arrived and that, with such reinforcements, 
his conquest was now assured. When the first 
wave of enthusiasm had subsided, sober reflec- 
tion generated doubts in the commander's mind; 
the fleet might after all have been sent against 
him by Diego Velasquez and, far from bringing 
assistance, it might mean his destruction. Sus- 
pense was intolerable; the only additional in- 
formation that reached him in his perplexity, 
was a letter written by one, Alonso de Cervantes, 
whom he left on the coast with instructions 
to immediately report the arrival of any ships. 
This letter was brought by an Indian of Cuba, 
and described the arrival of but one vessel, which 



22 2 Fernando Cortes 

the writer believed to be that of Puertocarrero 
and Montejo returning from Spain, adding that, 
as soon as the ship came into the harbour, he 
would ascertain and report further. Cortes 
despatched four of his men with instructions to 
bring him information as quickly as possible. 
Andres de Tapia was simultaneously sent to 
Vera Cruz, and messengers left, bearing orders 
to Rangel in Chinantla and to Velasquez de 
Leon at Coatzacoalco, instructing them to re- 
main where they were until further notice. 



CHAPTER IX 

CORTES DEFEATS NARVAEZ 

Arrival of the Envoys in Spain — Velasquez and the Audi- 
encia — Landing of Narvaez — His Policy — Negotiations 
with Narvaez — Cortes Leaves Mexico — The Attack 
— After the Victory 

LEAVING Cortes and his companions a prey 
to their conflicting hopes and fears in the 
Aztec capital, it is necessary, in order to ex- 
plain the arrival of the fleet depicted by Mon- 
tezuma's artists, to trace the development of 
events in Spain, affecting Cortes. As has been 
already stated in Chapter IV., the procura- 
tors, Puertocarrero and Montejo, who were 
sent from Vera Cruz with the letters and the 
presents to Charles V. found, on their arrival 
in Spain, that Diego Velasquez had, through his 
agent Benito Martin, already lodged a com- 
plaint against Cortes with the colonial authori- 
ties in Seville, and had succeeded in piejudicing 
the President of the Royal India Council, the 
Bishop of Burgos, against him. Their ship w^as 
in consequence seized, their own effects and the 
presents sent by Cortes to his father were con- 
fiscated, the present to the Emperor being 

forwarded in response to a royal order, dated 

223 



2 24 Fernando Cortes 

December the fiftli from Molino del Key, to 
Louis Veret, keeper of the royal jewels. The 
Bishop of Burgos wrote a most unfavourable 
report of the conduct of Cortes, representing 
him as a mutineer and a rebel, and advising 
that his agents be punished forthwith. 

In this sorry plight, Puertocarrero and Mon- 
tejo sought out Martin Cortes, the father of 
Don Fernando, and all three set out to obtain 
an audience of the Emperor. They were re- 
ceived by Charles V. in the month of March, 
1520, at Tordesillas. The rich and curious ob- 
jects they presented excited the interest and 
admiration of all who saw them, for they 
were the first treasures brought from the New 
World that in any way corresponded to the 
expectations of those who believed, with Colum- 
bus, that the golden realms of Cathay had been 
reached by sailing to the west.^ Despite the 
favourable impression produced by the magni- 
ficence of their offering and the wonderful tale 
they had to tell of the newly discovered country, 
the Bishop's letter had had its effect; moreover, 
the Emperor was too preoccupied with his pre- 
parations to start for Germany to assume the 
imperial crown, to give attention to matters 
so remote. No definite answer was returned 
and, after following the court to La Coruiia, 
where Charles embarked on the sixteenth of 
May, the two procurators found themselves left 

1 Las Casas, Historia de las Indias, lib. iii., cap. cxxi. 




-^ 






r- 



"\ ^ ' 



/ 



f^ 
f rv. 



\_ 






-^ "SSS 



CHARLES v. — 1519 

FROM AN OLD PAINTING 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 225 

to the tender mercies of the Bishop of Burgos. 
Belying on the powers conferred upon him by 
a royal decree dated November 13, 1518, Diego 
Velasquez had meanwhile decided to send an 
expedition to capture and bring back Cortes to 
Cuba. He named as commander of the expedi- 
tion, Panfilo de Narvaez, a native of Valladolid 
who had first settled in Jamaica and afterwards 
taken part in the conquest of Cuba as captain 
of thirty bowmen, under Velasquez's command. 
Narvaez was at this time about forty years of 
age and, though his bravery was admitted by 
all who knew him, his arrogance, vanity, and 
want of discretion were notorious. 

Narvaez's fleet consisted of eighteen vessels 
carrying nine hundred men, of whom eighty were 
mounted, the remainder being archers and arque- 
busiers. Besides the fighting men, there were 
about one thousand Indians, twenty heavy guns, 
and an ample supply of ammunition and stores.^ 

The Audiencia of San Domingo, foreseeing the 
scandal that would inevitably result from such 
an expedition against Cortes, sent Lucas Vas- 
quez de Ayllon to Cuba, with full powers to 
stop the preparations and prohibit the sailing. 
Ayllon followed Diego Velasquez to the port of 
Trinidad where he had gone, and there learned 
that Narvaez w^as at Xagua, some fourteen 
leagues distant, ready to join the others of the 
fleet who were at Guaniguanico. He also dis- 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cix. 

IS 



2 26 Fernando Cortes 

covered that most of the able-bodied men in the 
colony had enlisted and that the island would be 
left with few defenders in case of trouble with 
the natives. He went, therefore, to Xagua and 
notified Narvaez not to sail, but to go to Guani- 
guanico, where he intended to dissuade the 
governor from the undertaking. Though Velas- 
quez appeared at first to yield, he ended by 
repudiating the authority of the Audiencia, 
though he consented to give pacific instructions 
to Narvaez as to his manner of dealing with 
Cortes. Ayllon decided at the last moment to 
go himself with the armada in order, if possible, 
to prevent troubles between the rival com- 
manders. Narvaez, showed himself heedless of 
the notary's protests at San Juan de Ulua, and 
finally rid himself of his importunities by send- 
ing him back to Cuba on one ship, and his 
secretary and alguacil on another. It was 
some three months after his departure on his 
mission that Ayllon landed at San Nicolas in 
San Domingo, and made his way, as best he 
could, on foot across the island to report his 
ill success to the magistrates. This fiouting of 
the Audiencia cost Diego Velasquez any triumph 
he might otherwise have hoped to gain over 
Cortes, and Narvaez's summary violence to- 
wards a representative of the government bears 
out Bernal Diaz's estimate of his character.^ 

1 Orozco y Berra, Conquista de Mexico, torn, iv., cap. 
vi.-vii. 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 227 

Narvaez's first act was to land his people, 
horses, and artillery, after which he proceeded 
to the foundation of a settlement for which he 
named the usual municipal authorities who, in 
this case, were chiefly relatives of his patron, 
Diego Velasquez. The news of the arrival of 
this new detachment of white men spread with 
great rapidity throughout the land, and several 
Spaniards, who were scattered about in the coast 
provinces, visited the new settlement. From 
these men, Narvaez procured full information 
concerning the movements of Cortes and the 
state of affairs at that moment. These Spanish 
informers were stragglers and deserters from 
the force of Cortes, and their descriptions of his 
achievements, dictated as they were by personal 
spite, were very acceptable to Narvaez. More- 
over, the informants were able to serve him 
as interpreters and were hence made cordially 
welcome to his camp. 

As w^as related in the previous chapter, Mon- 
tezuma was informed of the arrival of the fleet 
long before Cortes, and had even entered into 
amicable relations with the newcomers by 
means of his envoys w^hom he sent to salute 
Narvaez in his name. The envoys carried the 
usual presents, and orders were given to the 
local authorities to provide generously for 
the wants of the new settlement. Narvaez told 
the envoys that Cortes was a rebel whom he had 
been sent to apprehend and convey to Cuba, 



2 28 Fernando Cortes 

and that in the event of the latter not yielding 
to his authority, he would kill him and all of 
his men who resisted. He promised Montezuma 
his liberty and sent him some presents of Span- 
ish merchandise. Then it was that Montezuma 
showed Cortes his picture-writing, depicting 
the arrival of the fleet. While Cortes Tvas 
ignorant concerning these events, Narvaez pos- 
sessed the advantage of being fully informed 
concerning him and his affairs. He notified 
Juan Velasquez de Leon at Coatzacoalco of his 
arrival, inviting him to join him with all his 
force. He had a dual claim on Velasquez's ad- 
hesion to his party, first because of the authori- 
sation he bore from the governor of Cuba, 
and second because they were brothers-in-law. 
Velasquez was heedless of both, however, and 
started at once to report what was happening 
to Cortes. Gonzalo de Sandoval, who was in 
command at Vera Cruz, proved equally loyal 
to his commander and in reply to the address 
of Juan de Guevara, a priest whom Narvaez 
had sent with two others to summon him to 
submit to his authority as the legal representa- 
tive of the governor of Cuba, he answered : 

Sir priest, you choose your words badly, speak- 
ing of traitors; all of us here are better servants 
of His Majesty than are Diego Velasquez and this 
man, your captain ; as you are a priest, I do not 
punish you as you deserve. Go in peace to Mexico 
where you will find Cortes, who is the captain- 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 229 

general and chief justice of this New Spain, and 
who will answer you: there is nothing more to be 
said here.i 

The priest persisted in his mission and ordered 
the notary to read the full powers and require- 
ments from Diego Velasquez. As Sandoval 
interrupted, refusing to listen, the dispute waxed 
violent, ending in Sandoval seizing the three 
messengers, whom he bound fast and packed on 
the backs of Indian porters with orders to carry 
them straight to his commander in Mexico. 

After the forcible deportation of the licen- 
tiate Ayllon to Cuba, Narvaez removed bis 
camp from the unhealthy seacoast to Cempoalla 
and established his own quarters in the great 
temple, where Cortes had erected the Christian 
altar. Accustomed to ride roughshod over the 
timid natives of Cuba, he failed to realise that 
similar conduct would not succeed with the 
war-like Totonacs. All hopes of winning the 
friendship of the " fat cacique " were jeopardised 
by the arrogance of the commander and the 
wild licence of his men. A new pest was intro- 
duced amongst the Indians, by one of Narvaez's 
negro slaves who fell ill of smallpox, a disease 
hitherto unknown in America, and which spread 
rapidly throughout Mexico, killing and disfig- 
uring thousands of the natives. 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cxi. ; Orozco y Berra, Conquista de 
Mexico, torn, iv., cap. vii. 



230 ' Fernando Cortes 

- Such, therefore, was the situation that con- 
fronted Cortes, though at the time he was igno- 
rant of the ;^"ents we have just described. No 
further news came to supplement the bare facts 
communicated to him by Montezuma, until a fort- 
night after the despatch of his first messengers, 
for whose return he was impatiently waiting, 
when there arrived certain Mexicans from the 
coast, bringing Montezuma another picture-writ- 
ing. These Indians informed Cortes that his 
messengers had not returned because they were 
forcibly detained in the camp of the newly ar- 
rived captain. This news confirmed his worst 
apprehensions concerning the expedition which, 
it clearly seemed, had come with hostile intent. 
He wrote a letter to its unknown commander, in 
which he related all that had happened since his 
own arrival in Mexico and asked to know from 
whence the fleet came, who was its captain, 
and with what intention it had been sent. If 
the newcomers were Spaniards, he offered them 
any assistance they might require, but if they 
were not subjects of the King, he admonished 
them to at once quit the country which he held 
in the King's name, otherwise he would march 
against them with his full force of Spaniards and 
Indians, as against invaders of His Majesty's 
realm. The municipal authorities of Vera Cruz 
who were with him, wrote likewise to Sandoval, 
and both letters were given to Fray Bartolome 
de Olmedo, whose clerical character would com- 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 231 

mand respect and who had already shown, him- 
self a man of singular prudence and ability in 
conducting negotiations. 

Fray Bartolome had been gone five days, 
when Guevara and his two companions, who" 
had been carried in liamacas, day and night with- 
out rest from Vera Cruz, arrived at the gates 
of Mexico. Sandoval's letter was brought by 
the same carriers and Cortes w^as at last in 
possession of full information concerning the 
mysterious fleet. The three prisoners had been 
set down outside the city, while the messengers 
went ahead to deliver Sandoval's letter and re- 
ceive instructions from Cortes. With his charac- 
teristic diplomacy, Cortes ordered the prisoners 
to be released; he sent them horses so that they 
might enter the city in a dignified manner, and 
on their arrival, they were received with effusion 
and invited to a banquet in the Spanish quarters. 
Cortes excused the vivacity of Sandoval and, 
by the exercise of those blandishments of which 
he was master, he succeeded in winning the 
newcomers over to his service. Not only did 
they give him all the information in their power, 
but they also delivered to him more than one 
hundred letters addressed by Diego Velasquez to 
the settlers at Vera Cruz, offering recompense 
and favour to all who would desert Cortes and 
threatening punishment for all who resisted 
Narvaez.^ 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cxi,; Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 270. 



232 Fernando Cortes 

So. completely had Cortes secured the alle- 
giance of Narvaez's three men, that he sent them 
back to Cempoalla bearing a letter from him- 
self to their chief. The tone of this missive 
was concilatory; he was delighted and relieved 
to learn that it was his old friend and neigh- 
bour in Cuba who had arrived at Vera Cruz, 
and reproached him for not announcing his 
coming. After this amiable preamble, the letter 
went on to point out that, if Narvaez brought 
any authorisation from the King to found a 
settlement where one had already been estab- 
lished in the royal name, he should present his 
papers to the municipality of Vera Cruz and 
to Cortes, by whom their provisions would be 
scrupulously respected; it was impossible for 
him to leave the city of Mexico, without risking 
the loss of all the treasure he had there col- 
lected for the Crown, otherwise he would come 
in person to welcome his old friend. Guevara 
and his companions departed with this letter 
and, hardly had they left the city when Andres 
de Tapia, who had accomplished the journey 
from Vera Cruz in the incredibly short space 
of three and a half days, arrived with news of 
fresh troubles in that settlement. The Indians, 
seeing the dissensions between the rival colo- 
nists, had rebelled, refusing any longer to work 
on the fortifications of Vera Cruz or to supply 
provisions for the inhabitants. Difficulties 
were multiplying on all sides and Sandoval had 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 233 

retreated with his people to the mountains, as 
the only means to avoid open hostilities with 
Narvaez. 

Cortes promptly took the hazardous decision 
to march forthwith to the centre of disaffection 
and to restore order by whatever means might 
prove necessary, amicably if possible, and if 
not, by force. Pedro de Alvarado was left in 
command of eighty men in Mexico to guard the 
Spanish quarters and the treasures; these men 
were made up, as far as possible, of the former 
partisans of Diego Velasquez or those on 
whom Cortes felt he could least rely, and of 
such others as were incapable of rapid march- 
ing. Juan Diaz remained as chaplain to the 
garrison. 

Confused, indeed, must have been the mind 
of Montezuma by these perplexing events, nor 
did the explanations offered by Cortes throw 
much light on the situation. In taking leave 
of the captive monarch, Cortes charged him to 
protect and provide for the garrison left in 
the city, and to guard their property. He must 
also see that the Christian altars were respected 
and that fresh flowers were provided for their 
adornment, and the candles kept lighted day 
and night.^ Montezuma offered to furnish a 
large force of warriors to assist in conquering 
the newcomers if they were enemies of his 
friend Malintzin, but this aid was refused, Cortes 

1 Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., cap. vii. 



234 Fernando Cortes 

explaining that it was unnecessary, as he would 
settle the difficulty himself and speedily return. 
Alvarado's chief care must be to guard Monte- 
zuma and not allow him to escape. The soldiers 
were made to swear fidelity and obedience to 
the temporary commander, and were strictly 
enjoined to keep within their quarters and to 
refrain from provoking in any way the citizens 
of Mexico. All possible precautions having been 
taken and measures for all foreseeable emergen- 
cies provided, Cortes marched out of the capi- 
tal by the causeway leading to Iztapalapan, at 
the head of eighty foot-soldiers and twelve 
horsemen in the early part of May, 1520. 

At Cholula, this small force was increased by 
the men under Juan Velasquez and Rodrigo 
Rangel who were there awaiting its arrival, care 
being exercised to choose those whose fidelity was 
assured, while the others, together with some who 
were ill, were sent back to reinforce Alvarado's 
scanty garrison in Mexico. To still further win 
the loyalty of his company, Cortes distributed 
two loads of treasure collected by Juan Velas- 
quez in Coatzacoalco, giving each man one or 
two collars of gold. An application to the re- 
public of Tlascala for ten thousand auxiliaries 
was met by a refusal, the rulers of that state 
professing their willingness to furnish any num- 
ber required to fight against Mexicans, but none 
at all to combat Spaniards.^ 

1 Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., cap. vii. 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 235 

Leaving Cholula, the Spanish force encount- 
ered Fray Bartolome de Olmedo some fifteen 
leagues distant from the city. The friar de- 
livered Narvaez's answer to the letter he had 
carried to Cempoalla. The tone of this com- 
munication was curt enough, being, in fact, 
hardly more than a peremptory summons to 
Cortes to submit without delay to the author- 
ity of Diego Velasquez. More significant even 
than this haughty letter, was the information 
the friar brought concerning the communica- 
tions that had passed between Narvaez and 
Montezuma. At a place called Quechola, a 
notary, Alonso de Mata, and four Spaniards 
of Narvaez's company met the advancing force 
and, after saluting Cortes, essayed to read 
some legal documents calling upon him to sub- 
mit himself to the lawful jurisdiction of the 
governor of Cuba; but as Mata was unable to 
produce any proof of his notarial character, all 
three were promptly put in the stocks and left 
to reflect on their temerity during the rest of 
the day. In the afternoon, the three men were 
released, treated with kindness, and presented 
with a number of valuable gifts. They were 
much impressed by the wealth of golden chains 
and other rich ornaments worn by even the foot- 
soldiers of the troops. From Ahuilizapan, the 
present Orizaba, where he was detained two 
days by heavy rains, Cortes replied to the legal 
notifications with which Narvaez had sought 



236 Fernando Cortes 

to serve liim, by sending an equally formal " re- 
quirement " to tliat commander, demanding his 
instant submission, under pain of severe penal- 
ties. This parrying with legal documents was 
but the skirmish, preliminary to the real engage- 
ment that seemed inevitable. 

The advantage always remained with Cortes, 
whose gallant manners and lavish generosity 
contrasted most favourably with the arrogance 
and selfishness of Narvaez. The several bodies 
of messengers w^ho approached the former to de- 
liver their captain's fulminations, were speedily 
seduced, flattered, corrupted with rich presents 
and either openly espoused his cause, or re- 
turned to Cempoalla disaffected towards their 
less genial leader. Fray Bartolome used gold 
with wise liberality in the enemy's camp, where 
he adroitly coaxed into existence a strong feeling 
of sympathy for Cortes, that was as much the 
fruit of his eloquent tongue as of his open hand. 
Among those whom Narvaez at this time en- 
trusted with delivering messages and conducting 
negotiations was Andres de Duero, sometime 
secretary to Diego Velasquez and to whose in- 
fluence Cortes largely owed his appointment to 
the command of the expedition to Mexico. The 
two met as old friends and, after the first cordial 
greeting, Duero produced a letter from his chief 
that was couched in more moderate language 
than his earlier communications. While abat- 
ing nothing of his demands, it contained impor- 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 237 

tant concessions. Narvaez offered to give Cortes 
vessels to carry himself and his companions, 
with all their treasure, safely out of the country, 
a proposition that many of the officers and 
men would have doubtless embraced readily 
enough had they ever heard of it. The bribe 
had no attraction for Don Fernando, who an- 
swered that he would only yield to the intruder 
if he could produce a royal commission, for he 
held the country for the King, by virtue of the 
authority confirmed upon him by the muni- 
cipality of Vera Cruz, and he recognised no 
jurisdiction short of the Crown. This legal 
fiction seems almost laughable when we recall 
the circumstances of the creation of the muni- 
cipal authorities of Vera Cruz, but, slender as 
was the foundation it offered, it was sufficient 
for the purpose of Cortes and on it he based 
his immense pretensions. 

Gonzalo de Sandoval had meanwhile joined 
his commander, bringing a reinforcement of 
sixty men from the garrison at Vera Cruz, and 
a soldier, Tovilla by name, who had been sent 
to Chinantla to procure a supply of long lances 
for which the natives of that province were 
noted, had also come into camp, accompanied 
by two hundred Indians and bringing three 
hundred copper- tipped spears to be used against 
Narvaez's numerous cavalry. 

Negotiations had failed and there only re- 
mained the appeal to arms. Cortes marched to 



238 Fernando Cortes 

within one league from Cempoalla and there 
halted his troops to rest before fording the river. 
He did not dignify the operations against Nar- 
vaez with the adjective military; according to 
his view, he as chief justice of Vera Cruz was 
serving a writ on a disturber of the public peace 
who was in rebellion against the properly consti- 
tuted authorities of a Spanish colony. The on- 
coming night promised to be both dark and 
stormy, and he decided to strike his enemy 
under these favourable conditions. 

He first addressed his men, rehearsing their 
great services to their king and country, unique, 
indeed, in history, and deserving of the highest 
honours and rewards. The governor of Cuba, 
however, sought in his own petty, selfish interest 
to dishonour them, calling them traitors, muti- 
neers, and pirates. He had sent his agent, 
Narvaez, to capture them and take them back 
to Cuba where the infamy of the scaffold 
awaited them, while the fruits of their hard- 
won victories would redound to the profit and 
glory of their executioner. This discourse went 
home to every man in the troop and fired the 
most sluggish with the determination to frustrate 
Narvaez. Cortes then assigned the captains 
their places, and outlined the plan of attack. 
Gonzalo de Sandoval, as alguacil mayor of Vera 
Cruz, was charged with the duty of arresting 
Narvaez. His instructions were precise, and 
authorised him in case of resistance, to kill the 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 239 

invader, for by so doing he would serve God and 
tlie King.^ Eighty men were told off to assist 
him in his hazardous undertaking. A premium 
of three thousand pesos was to be given to whom- 
ever first laid his hands on Narvaez, two thou- 
sand to the second, and one thousand to the 
third. 

Cortes had received information concerning 
the disposition of the quarters of Narvaez, the 
measures for defence and other details, from one 
Galleguillo who had arrived that evening direct 
from Cempoalla, either as a deserter or sent as 
an informer by Andres de Duero. Crossing the 
swollen stream with infinite danger and difficulty 
owing to the swift current and the dense black- 
ness of the night, and without falling in with the 
forty horsemen who were supposed to be on the 
alert for his coming, Cortes surprised two scouts, 
one of whom he captured while the other ran off 
towards Cempoalla to give the alarm. Pushing 
on in great haste to reach the town before the 
garrison could arm in response to the scout's 
alarm, these extraordinary men still found 
time to dismount and recite a prayer while 
Pray Bartolome caused them to repeat in 
unison the form of general confession, after 
which he pronounced the absolution. The 
horses and the scanty baggage were left in 
charge of Marina and a page, while the men 
rushed forward to the assault of the teocalli 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cxxii. Relacion de Andres de Tapia. 



240 Fernando Cortes 

where Narvaez lodged. The sentinels fled, yell- 
ing at the top of their lungs and closely fol- 
lowed by the oncoming assailants. Each of 
the captains flew to his appointed task; Pizarro 
and his men seized the artillery, others cut 
the saddle-girths of the cavalry, Sandoval got 
possession of several small guns placed at the 
base of the teocalli, while Cortes commanded 
the rear-guard and saw that those of Narvaez's 
men who were captured, were speedily dis- 
armed. Sandoval, with his eighty soldiers, 
stormed up the steps of the teocalli where Nar- 
vaez and a few of his officers made a stubborn 
defence, in the course of which, the latter lost 
one of his eyes. A soldier threw a burning 
torch into the roof of thatch and in a moment 
the top of the teocalli was in a blaze. The 
struggle was quickly over; Pedro Farfan won 
the three thousand pesos, for he was the 
first to seize Narvaez, though it is nowhere 
recorded that he ever received the premium. 
Shouts of victory were heard from the teo- 
calli, mingled with cheers for the King and for 
Cortes. 

Some twelve of Narvaez's men had fallen in 
the short engagement and most of the survivors, 
including the forty horsemen who had not 
taken part in the fray, found little difficulty 
in swearing allegiance to the victor and enrolling 
themselves under his banner. 

This victory of the twenty-ninth of May 



Cortes Defeats Narvaez 241 

marked an epoch in the fortunes of Cortes, 
working as complete a change in his situation 
as had the creation of the municipality of Vera 
Cruz and his own election by that body as 
captain-general and chief justice of New Spain. 

He had staked everything on this venture, 
and again Fortune was kind to her favourite 
son. In receiving the officers of Narvaez, 
Cortes assumed an unaccustomed state, while 
the soldiers, ship-captains, and pilots were per- 
mitted to approach and kiss his hand. When 
Narvaez was brought before him, manacled, he 
said with bitterness, " You have much reason, 
SeGor Cortes, to thank Fortune for having given 
you such an easy victory and placed me in your 
power." " The least important deed that I have 
accomplished in this country, was to capture 
you," replied Cortes ^ with ready sarcasm. 

He had worsted Narvaez at every point, for 
while the latter failed either to win friends 
amongst the Spaniards or Indians in Mexico, 
or even to hold the allegiance of his own men, 
Cortes attached new supporters from among 
his opponent's followers, and had held his own 
men, even when his fortunes looked blackest. 
He carried on his negotiations with the skill of 
an accomplished ambassador and drafted his 
letters to Narvaez in language worthy of a prime 
minister. While engaged in this correspondence, 
the negative result of which he foresaw, he 

1 Oviedo, Hist, de las Indias, lib. xxxiii., cap. xlvii. 



242 Fernando Cortes 

descended with bewildering rapidity from Mexico 
to the coast and, with the precision of a prac- 
tised strategist, he struck his enemy one swift 
blow that revolutionised their positions and left 
him master of a new fleet, a new army, and of 
vast stores of munitions of war, with which 
to return and complete his suspended conquest. 



CHAPTER X 

REVOLT OF MEXICO 

Ravages of Smallpox — News of the Revolt — Feast of 
Toxcatl — Alvarado's Folly — Cortes Returns to Mex- 
ico — Release of Cuitlahuatzin — Intervention of Monte- 
zuma — Hard Fighting — Decision to Retreat — Death of 
Montezuma. 

THE Indians of Cempoalla were the chief 
sufferers from the hostilities carried on in 
their province ; the " fat cacique " was wounded 
during the assault on the teocalli, a great part 
of the town was destroyed, and the people were 
dying in immense numbers from the virulent 
smallpox that raged unchecked, for want of 
remedies or knowledge of how to handle the 
dread disease. Pestilence seemed imminent, and 
there was a dearth of men to bring provisions 
into the Spanish camp, and even of w^omen to 
grind the maize and make the bread. The 
cacique sent a painted representation of the 
triumph of Cortes to Montezuma, and a Span- 
iard was also despatched to inform Pedro de 
Alvarado of the victory. 

With such an increase in the number of his 
force, Cortes felt that the conquest of the Mexi- 
can empire was assured; he sent expeditions to 
Panuco to contest Francisco de Garay's occu- 

243 



2 44 Fernando Cortes 

pation of that province, two hundred men were 
left under command of Diego de Ordaz to con- 
tinue the interrupted work of making a settle- 
ment at Coatzacoalco, and for the support of both 
of these expeditions ships were sent along the 
coast, one of which had orders to go first to 
Jamaica and bring a supply of horses, pigs, 
sheep, and other live-stock for the colonists. 
Never had the present seemed more serene or 
the future more assured than when the last dis- 
pute over the distribution of the horses, arms, 
and other property of Narvaez, had been finally 
settled. 

This promising state of affairs w^as suddenly 
dissipated by the arrival of two Tlascalans who 
brought the verbal information that the Mexi- 
cans had risen and were besieging Alvarado's 
garrison in the Spanish quarters. Closely 
following them, came two others with letters 
from Alvarado confirming the alarming report, 
and imploring Cortes, in God's name to hasten 
to his relief. The Spanish messenger whom 
Cortes had sent to Alvarado also returned, 
bringing further details of the disaster. Seven 
Spaniards had already been killed, many were 
disabled by wounds, their quarters were in flames 
and, as no provisions were furnished, the gar- 
rison would be starved out if not otherwise 
destroyed. The two brigantines built by Cortes, 
ostensibly to amuse Montezuma, had been burned 
and the plight of the Spaniards was desperate. 




DON PEDRO DE ALVARADO 

FROM HERRERA, VOL. II., PAGE 274 



Revolt of Mexico 245 

Simultaneously four messengers arrived from 
Montezuma to complain that the Spanish cap- 
tain had ordered an unprovoked attack upon 
the Mexicans during a religious festival, and 
that the latter had merely defended themselves 
as best they could. 

The feast of Toxcatl fell upon the tenth of May. 
and only the highest and the noblest, adorned 
with their richest ornaments, but unarmed, took 
part in the ceremonial dance. Cortes had con- 
sented, before he left Mexico, to the usual cele- 
bration, with the proviso that there should be no 
human sacrifices, though very likely the priests 
reserved their intention to perform that part of 
the rites privately. The first contrariety arose 
from Alvarado's refusal to allow the statue of 
Huitzilopochtli to be restored to its former place, 
from which it had been ejected to make room 
for the Christian altars. The Tlascalans next 
excited his suspicions by saying that the fes- 
tival was merely a pretext to collect a large 
multitude in the city, the real object being to 
fall upon the diminished garrison and exter- 
minate it. On the day of the feast, Alvarado and 
others saw certain idols, decked out for the 
procession, standing in the court of the temple 
and also three youths clad in new robes, and 
their heads shaven, which indicated that they 
were destined for sacrifice. He seized the in- 
tended victims, and, by putting them to worse 
tortures than those of the sacrificial stone (un- 



246 Fernando Cortes 

der whicli one of them died) lie obtained such 
testimony as he wanted from the other two, to 
prove that a general revolt was planned. 

What these poor creatures, who were mere 
lads, could be supposed to know of such con- 
spiracies does not appear, but Alvarado was 
satisfied, and, arming his men, he left some in 
charge of Montezuma, with orders to kill the 
nobles who were with him, while he repaired with 
the others to the great teocalU, where six hundred 
nobles and priests were dancing, while some three 
thousand other persons assisted as spectators. 
The appearance of the Spaniards caused no 
interruption, but, at a given signal, they drew 
their weapons and fell upon the defenceless 
people, slaughtering them without quarter; the 
doors were guarded, but some few escaped, who 
gave the alarm and aroused the city. Meanwhile 
the nobles of the court had been slain, and the 
Spaniards had fortified themselves inside their 
quarters. 

The exact place where the dance was per- 
formed is uncertain, as neither Cortes nor 
Bernal Diaz mentions it. Acosta, contradicting 
most of the early writers, argues that it must 
have been the court of the palace where Monte- 
zuma was kept. It nowhere appears, however, 
that Montezuma was present and, as the dance 
was a religious rite, the temple court would seem 
more indicated for its celebration. Alvarado, 
who was wounded on the head by a stone, ap- 



Revolt of Mexico 247 

peared before Montezuma crying : " See what 
your subjects have done," but the Emperor an- 
swered that had he not begun the disturbance, 
the Mexicans would have remained peaceable, 
adding, " You have undone yourself and me." 
Nor did Alvarado's explanations satisfy Cortes, 
who openly showed his anger upon his arrival. 
Indeed, his conduct seems destitute of any 
reasonable excuse, and his efforts to exculpate 
himself at his trial were weak and unconvin- 
cing; at best, he had but the word of a captive, 
an intended victim, and that wrung from him 
under torture. Replying to Article IV. of the 
accusations against him, he alleged first, that 
it was common report in the city that, during 
the absence of Cortes, the reduced garrison 
would be crushed; second, on the morning of 
the festival he had seen a large number of 
sharpened sticks, with which the Mexicans 
openly boasted they would kill him and his 
men; third, the admission of the captive vic- 
tim, which was confirmed by a native of Tex- 
coco; fourth, that a skirmish had already taken 
place in the palace, in which he himself was 
wounded, and one Spaniard was killed, and 
that all would have certainly shared the same 
fate.i 

1 Torquemada adds the detail that huge cauldrons were 
prepared in which to cook the Spaniards. Las Casas ad- 
vances the theory, usual with him, that Alvarado wished 
to strike such a blow as would terrorise the Indians. 



248 Fernando Cortes 

Admitting the weighty unanimity of many 
authorities as pointing to the existence of the 
alleged conspiracy, Alvarado's conduct would 
still be without justification ; even had there 
been an intention to attack him, his proper 
course would have been to collect all the Span- 
iards and the Tlascalans within his quarters; 
provision his garrison, hold Montezuma and the 
court nobles as hostages, notify Cortes by mes- 
senger, and stand strictly on the defensive until 
help or instructions came. The situation cannot 
be properly paralleled with that of Cortes in 
Cholula, for the conditions were entirely dif- 
ferent. Alvarado was the most violent of all 
the Spanish captains and his brutality culmi- 
nated in this inhuman massacre, which drove 
the long-suffering Mexicans to desperation. It 
destroyed the last illusion about the celestial 
origin and character of the white men, and 
brought on the tragedy of the "Sorrowful Night," 
and the siege, with its long train of misery and 
destruction. From that day forward, the Mex- 
icans were deaf to all overtures from the Span- 
iards; regardless of suffering and indifferent to 
death they sought only vengeance. 



Herrera admits that a revolt may have been brewing, 
but deprecates the wholesale massacre and the taking of 
jewels from the dead bodies of the victims. Clavigero 
scouts the idea of a conspiracy, and affirms that this 
was an invention to shield Alvarado. Oviedo, Sahagun, 
and Duran, all exempt the Indians of hostile intentions. 



Revolt of Mexico 249 

Cortes probably gave little credit to the story- 
told by Montezuma's envoys, for his suspicions 
were already sufficiently aroused by his know- 
ledge of the negotiations the Emperor had 
carried on with Narvaez behind his back. 
Wherever the truth lay in the contradictory 
explanations offered him, the important thing 
was to save the Spanish garrison. His de- 
cisions were quickly formed and his orders 
rapidly given. His prisoners, Narvaez and an 
officer, Salvatierra, were sent to Vera Cruz 
together with all the sick and disabled; swift 
couriers were despatched in pursuit of Ordaz 
and Juan Velasquez, bearing orders for them to 
desist from their enterprises and to join the main 
force at Tlascala; the great majority of Nar- 
vaez's men were induced by presents and prom- 
ises to march with Cortes to Mexico and, at 
the head of these men and some seventy horse- 
men, the intrepid commander rode forth from 
Cempoalla on his second march to the Aztec 
capital. At Tlascala, the scattered forces punc- 
tually united and it was there learned that 
Alvarado was still holding out, though hard 
pressed. The total force now reached the re- 
spectable figure of thirteen hundred men. 
ninety-six horses, and a fair supply of artillery.^ 



1 These figures are taken from Bernal Diaz (cap. cxxv.) 
whose estimate of the numbers of the force is the high- 
est of any authority. Cortes reduced them to less than 



250 Fernando Cortes 

Tlascala furnished auxiliaries to the number of 
three or four hundred warriors. 

A rapid march brought the army to Texcoco 
where messengers from Montezuma* and Alvarado 
gave the welcome news of the garrison's safety. 
The active assaults on the quarters, so Alvarado 
wrote, had ceased a fortnight ago, though the 
state of siege still lasted. Montezuma's letter, 
which was the first sign of welcome that Cortes 
had received since he crossed the Mexican fron- 
tier, rejected all responsibility for the disturb- 
ances in his capital, and begged Malintzin not to 
be angry with him. Following the road leading 
from Texcoco to Tepeyac (the present Guade- 
loupe), Cortes made his second entry into the 
city by the causeway leading to the Tlatelolco 
quarter, but under very different circumstances 
from those that accompanied his first visit. 
There were no curious or enthusiastic crowds in 
the streets, which, indeed, were silent and all 
but deserted; there was no procession of great 
nobles to salaam before him, neither the per- 
fume of incense greeted his nostrils nor were 
garlands of flowers cast beneath his horse's feet. 
The few citizens whom the Spaniards met, 
turned their faces aside, or withdrew from their 
sight; several of the bridges had been raised. 



half, — 70 horsemen and 500 soldiers. Prescott, following 
Herrera and Gomara, fixes the number at 1000 soldiers 
and 100 horsemen. 



Revolt of Mexico 251 

and over the city there brooded a sinister 
silence, veiling the memory of past conflict and 
heavy with the forecast of coming calamity. 
The gates of the Spanish quarters were thrown 
open to receive the welcome arrivals, Cortes and 
Alvarado embraced, while all crowded forward 
to kiss the commander's hand and the soldiers 
of both parties greeted one another and ex- 
changed news of their several adventures. Mon- 
tezuma, who advanced into the courtyard, was 
ignored by Cortes, who passed him by without 
returning his salute. Fray Bartolome visited 
the offended monarch in his apartments and 
sought to satisfy his plaintive inquiries as to 
whether and why Malintzin was angry with 
him, by assurances that anxiety and over- 
fatigue had rendered the general so distrait that 
he had been unaware of the Emperor's presence. 
Thus the feast of St. John the Baptist, the 
twenty-fourth of June, 1520, found Cortes once 
more within the Aztec capital, in command of 
a greater force than he had previously possessed, 
but faced likewise by an infinitely greater danger. 
Despite all he was told, Cortes hardly realised 
the conditions prevailing in the city and the 
intensity of the resentment Alvarado's cruel 
folly had aroused, until the next morning, when 
he learned that no markets were open nor were 
any provisions supplied to the garrison. If he 
had counted on his mere presence sufficing to 
restore confidence, he awoke to his mistake. 



252 Fernando Cortes 

Even his habitually imperturbable equanimity 
showed signs of giving way under the strain 
and, when some court o£8.cers approached him, 
asking w^hen he would see the Emperor, he im- 
patiently exclaimed, " Away with the dog, who 
Avont even keep his markets open or order us 
to be supplied with food ! " Several of his 
officers intervened to moderate his anger, re- 
minding him that but for Montezuma, they 
would all be dead and eaten before now. Such 
testiness was new in Cortes and was the first 
sign of the corrupting effects of good fortune 
on his balanced and well-controlled character. 
The victory over Narvaez, the homage of the 
men, his triumph over Diego Velasquez and his 
certainty of conquest, seem to have somewhat 
puffed him up, and the sudden disappointment 
awaiting him in Mexico came as a painful shock 
to his comfortably growing sense of omnipotence. 
He sent a curt message, equivalent to a threat, 
to Montezuma that he must order the markets 
opened immediately. This message and the tone 
of its utterance probably lost nothing in trans- 
mission to the Emperor through his courtiers. 
His reply reminded Cortes that as he was a 
prisoner, he could not leave the Spanish quarters, 
but that if the latter desired the markets to be 
opened and the populace to be tranquillised, 
some one of the sovereigns whom the Spaniards 
held, must be liberated. The Kings of Texcoco 
and Tlacopan shared Montezuma's imprisonment 



Revolt of Mexico 253 

as did likewise his brother Cuitlahuatzin, lord 
of Iztapalapan. Cortes recognised the force of 
the Emperor's argument but his habitually sub- 
tle judgment was evidently disturbed, for he 
made the blunder of designating Cuitlahuatzin 
as the one to accomplish the pacification of the 
city. 

This prince, who was an heir presumptive to 
the throne, was young, brave, intelligent, and 
popular; from the outset, he, like General Xico- 
tencatl in Tlascala, had refused to recognise the 
Spaniards as teules, and had repeatedly advised 
that they be annihilated without further dis- 
cussion. He had later supported the plan of 
Cacamatzin for a general coalition against the 
strangers, that was wrecked by the unpatriotic 
dissensions of the latter's ambitious brothers. 
Cortes had imprisoned the proud young prince, 
even putting him in chains, hence his feel- 
ings towards the Spaniards may easily be 
conceived. 

Once free, outside the Spanish quarters that 
had been his prison, Cuitlahuatzin took com- 
mand of the Mexican troops, organised an as- 
sault on the Spaniards and raised the whole 
city in revolt against the odious white men. 

A Spanish horseman, Antonio del Rio, was 
sent out with letters for Vera Cruz, but within 
half an hour he returned at full gallop, wounded 
and crying that the bridges were up and the 
whole city in revolt. Close upon his heels fol- 



2 54 Fernando Cortes 

lowed an immense crowd, brandishing weapons 
and uttering war-cries. From the roofs, which 
became peopled as though by magic, showers 
of missiles poured into the quarters — every- 
where were shouts, confusion, and sounds of 
war. 

Diego de Ordaz sallied out at the head of 
four hundred foot and a few horsemen to re- 
pulse the first onslaught. His men were im- 
mediately surrounded and unable to advance 
one pace, so dense was the throng that pressed 
upon them. Eight men were killed, a number 
wounded, and it was only with the greatest 
difficulty that their leader succeeded in getting 
the rest of his demoralised force safely back 
into the quarters. Cortes made efforts to sus- 
tain Ordaz, but was himself wounded, as well 
as several of his men and, seeing the impossi- 
bility of making headway against such over- 
whelming numbers, he fell back under shelter. 
Although the artillery and the arquebusiers 
worked fearful execution amongst the compact 
body of Indians, the places of the fallen were 
immediately filled and tlie death-dealing volleys 
seemed to produce no impression whatever, 
either on the numbers of the enemy or on their 
courage. Notwithstanding that the Mexicans 
had hitherto merely heard salutes fired from 
the guns, but had never witnessed the deadly 
efficiency of these engines of warfare, they 
stormed the very walls of the quarters, seeking 



Revolt of Mexico 255 

to make breaches, while others stationed on the 
neighbouring house-tops rained arrows, stones, 
and missiles of all kinds into the midst of the 
garrison. Fire was set to the building in 
various places by flaming arrows shot onto some 
of the wooden and thatched roofs. Scarcity of 
water inside the garrison, where, indeed, there 
was barely enough to drink, forced the Spaniards 
to tear down walls or to throw earth onto the 
flames to extinguish the spreading conflagration. 
On all sides the battle raged with unexampled 
fury, — never, not even during the war with the 
Tlascalans had the Spaniards sustained such an 
attack, and the men of Narvaez's troop, ac- 
customed to the timid Indians of Cuba and 
Hayti were amazed at this unexpected baptism 
of fire. Night mercifully put an end to the 
conflict, for, as the darkness fell, the Aztecs, 
according to their invariable custom, drew off 
their forces. 

The cessation of hostilities brought no rest 
to the beleaguered garrison, and an anxious 
night was passed in caring for the wounded, 
strengthening the defences, and repairing their 
weapons for the morrow. Early in the morn- 
ing, Cortes ordered a general sortie, leaving a 
sufficient body of men to defend the quarters. 
He found the enemy awaiting him with seem- 
ingly increased numbers. In the course of a 
long day's fighting, the Spaniards lost twelve 
men and many disabled by wounds, without 



256 Fernando Cortes 

gaining any advantage, beyond the destruction 
of a few houses. The artillery worked inces- 
santly and the number of Indians killed was 
never known, but though a hundred fell at each 
discharge of the guns, a thousand seemed to 
spring into their places with undiminished 
courage. 

The night following on this second day's 
struggle, was occupied in the construction of 
three wooden machines, similar to the mantelets 
in common use in Euro^^e before the invention 
of gun-powder. They were portable towers, 
constructed of light beams, covered over with 
planks, in which were loop-holes. The towers 
rested on rollers and were pulled through the 
streets by means of ropes. All the next day 
(Wednesday, 27th of June) the Spaniards re- 
mained behind their defences, where they sus- 
tained almost uninterrupted attacks, that left 
them no time for much-needed rest. Cuitla- 
huatzin was everywhere present amongst the 
besiegers, encouraging his people and directing 
their operations with singular skill. 

In the midst of the ever-increasing perils that 
beset his men, Cortes appealed to Montezuma 
to use his authority to stop the fighting. If he 
still had illusions as to Montezuma's influence 
over his people, that unhappy prince evidently 
had none. To Fray Bartolome and Cristobal 
de Olid, who came to him on behalf of the 
commander, he frankly said that the people 



Revolt of Mexico 257 

would no longer listen to or obey him, for they 
had chosen another leader; he added his con- 
viction that not a Spaniard would leave the city 
alive. Yielding finally to the persuasions of 
his two visitors, the Emperor vested himself 
for the last time in his imperial robes and, ac- 
companied by his courtiers bearing the insignia 
of his rank, he mounted the parapet of the 
palace overlooking the square. The unexpected 
apparition of their sovereign threw an instant 
hush over the raging crowd of Mexicans who 
dropped their arms and, falling prostrate, they 
touched the earth with their foreheads. Amidst 
the profound silence that reigned Montezuma 
spoke, declaring that he was not a prisoner, but 
lived with the white men voluntarily, free to 
come and go at his pleasure; he exhorted his 
people to cease fighting and assured them that 
the teules only asked to be allowed to leave the 
city in peace. It is not to be wondered at, 
that this badly inspired and feebly spoken 
discourse failed to procure the cessation of 
hostilities. 

On the contrary, he had hardly finished speak- 
ing when the young prince, Quauhtemotzin, who 
was one of the leaders of the people, stepped 
forward and reviled him as a coward and the 
effeminate tool of the Spaniards, declaring that 
his subjects renounced obedience to one who 
had so degraded his royal dignity. With that 
he hurled a stone, and in the volley of missiles 



258 Fernando Cortes 

that followed, one struck the Emperor on the 
heacl.^ 

The Spaniards who had been charged to pro- 
tect Montezuma's person with their shields were 
not quick enough, and it is said that he was also 
wounded by arrows in the arm and in the leg. 
The wounds were not, however, serious, but the 
unfortunate monarch was evidently determined 
not to survive this supreme humiliation and, 
refusing to allow his hurts to be properly 
dressed, he remained without food in a pro- 
foundly dejected condition. Herrera describes 
Cortes as showing the greatest concern, solici- 
tously visiting the Emperor to comfort him, but 
it seems little likely that, in the midst of his 
many perilous occupations, the commander 
found time to condole with his wounded cap- 
tive; for Montezuma's tardy efforts for peace 
had failed completely, and though Prescott says 
that the Aztecs " shocked at their own sacri- 
legious act . . . dispersed, panic-struck, in 
different directions ... so that not one of the 
multitudinous array remained in the great 
square," there seems to be no authority for 
believing that any such dramatic revulsion of 
feeling took place. Montezuma had fallen from 
his royalty and his high priesthood to be a 
thing of scorn and loathing to his people, while 



^ Codex Ramirez in Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., cap. x. ; 
Acosta, Hist. Nat. y Moral de las Indias, lib. vii., cap. xxvi. 



Revolt of Mexico 259 

his influence on the course of events was less 
than nil. 

The attacks on the walls of the Spanish 
quarters continued all day, interrupted once by 
a conference between Cortes and a group of 
Mexican nobles, who assured him that the only 
condition on which they would consider peace 
was that he and his men should leave the city 
and quit the country; failing this, they had 
determined to fight to the end even if every- 
body perished in the conflict.^ 

On Thursday, June 28th, the wooden towers 
or turtles {tortugas), as the soldiers called 
them, were drawn out and started through the 
street leading to the causeway of Tacuba. This 
road out of the city was the most easily ac- 
cessible and the shortest, and had hence been 
chosen in preference to either the Iztapalapan 
or the Tepeajac causeway. The turtles proved 
less effective than had been hoped; they were 
ponderous and clumsy to move and, though they 
protected the men inside them and enabled 
them to reach some of the lower house- 
tops, they gradually sustained such damage 
that they no longer offered an effective 
shelter. 

The teocalU of the great temple, overshadow- 
ing as it did the courtyards of the quarters, w^as 
a vantage ground of which the Aztecs profited 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 288. 



26o Fernando Cortes 

to do great damage to the garrison. The Chris- 
tian altar had been destroyed and the cross 
supplanted by the statues of the national gods, 
Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca, which were 
once more restored to their original pedestals. 
Several hundred nobles and priests had taken 
permanent possession of the summit of the 
teocalli, where they were protected from the fire 
of the garrison by the sanctuaries, behind or 
into which they retreated at their pleasure. 

The first attack on this important strong- 
hold was led by Escobar in command of one 
hundred men, but was unsuccessful. Cortes, 
who had been badly wounded in his left hand, 
had his shield bound to his arm and, selecting 
three hundred Spaniards and several thousand 
Tlascalans, he charged the mass of Indians de- 
fending the foot of the great staircase. The 
horsemen were of little service, as the pavement 
of the temple courtyard was so slippery their 
steeds could hardly keep their feet. The teocalli 
was composed of five terraces, communicating 
with one another by flights of steps built at the 
corners, one over the other, so that when the 
first terrace was reached, it was necessary to 
make the circuit of the pyramid in order to 
mount the second flight. The whole structure 
measured about three hundred feet square at 
its base, so the distance the Spaniards had to 
cover before reaching the top was scarcely less 
than a mile. Supported by Alvarado, Sandoval, 



Revolt of Mexico 261 

and Ordaz and closely followed by his men, 
Cortes attempted the ascent of the first stair- 
case, leaving the Tlascalans and a small force 
of Spaniards to defend the base and hold off 
an attack at his rear. Every foot of the ascent 
was stubbornly contested by the Aztecs on the 
upper terraces, from which they hurled down 
great stones and masses of burning wood on 
the assailants. Every terrace was hotly dis- 
puted, and the arquebusiers posted below ren- 
dered splendid service, forcing many of the 
Mexicans to retreat from their exposed position 
on the top platform and take refuge in the sanc- 
tuary. The area of the summit was paved 
with flat stones and its expanse was un- 
broken, save by the great stone of sacrifice 
and two small, tower-like structures about 
forty feet in height, in which stood the 
idols. 

Retreat was impossible, and the chivalry of 
two worlds locked in a death struggle on the 
lofty platform between earth and heaven. In 
the furious fight that raged between the com- 
batants, neither of whom gave or asked for 
quarter, many were hurled over the sides of the 
pyramid and fell, crushed and mangled, on the 
lower terraces, or were despatched by the de- 
fenders at the base. It is related by several 
writers that an attempt was made by two Mex- 
icans to drag Cortes to the edge and force him 
over, but that, by his superior dexterity, he 



262 Fernando Cortes 

saved himself.^ During three mortal hours 
eight hundred men swayed to and fro, from 
side to side of the perilous stage, dedicated so 
appropriately to the god of war, under the 
shadow of whose dread presence these rites of 
his fearful cult were being celebrated. Victory 
finally rested on the superior arms of the Span- 
iards, but not an Aztec warrior was left alive 
to grace their triumph. Every man of the de- 
fenders, about five hundred, had given his life 
in defence of his gods. Forty-five Spaniards 
had fallen and of the survivors, all were more 
or less severely wounded. 

No victory on any other site in the city could 
have caused more rejoicing to the Spaniards or 
greater dismay amongst the Mexicans than this 
dearly-bought success in the very stronghold of 
the Aztec theocracy. To complete their triumph, 
the soldiers overturned the monstrous idols, 
rolling them down the steps of the pyramid 
and, after collecting what treasures there were in 
the sanctuaries, they set fire to them. Great 
was the lamentation amongst the Mexicans, for 
those who had perished were of their best and 
bravest ; the bodies were collected and reverently 
carried away for burial. Not grief alone af- 
flicted the natives, but the fall of their great 
.temple and the destruction of their protecting 
idols renewed the old-time forebodings that the 

1 Herrera, dec. ii., lib. x., cap. ix. ; Torquemada, lib. iv., 
cap. Ixix. ; Prescott, torn, ii., lib. v., cap. ii. 



Revolt of Mexico 263 

coming of the teules presaged the end of their 
empire. That night the Spaniards burned 
several hundred houses in the city. 

While the influence of this disaster was still 
fresh on the minds of the people, Cortes in- 
vited their leaders to a conference, with a view 
to coming to terms. In his address to them, 
which was delivered through Marina, he re- 
hearsed the events of the preceding days, re- 
minding them of their losses and sufferings and 
declaring that these calamities were the con- 
sequences of their own stubbornness, for he was 
their friend and was much afflicted at being 
forced to do them such injury. He pointed out 
that their resistance was hopeless and that if 
they persisted, they would force him to ex- 
terminate them. The answer of the chiefs was 
prompt and definite; they recognised the truth 
of some things he had said but they had made 
their calculations that if, for every Spaniard 
who fell, a thousand of their men perished, they 
could still hold out and conquer. With force- 
ful logic they reminded Cortes that, while his 
forces were daily weakening from death, wounds, 
illness, and fatigue, their own numbers were in- 
creasing by fresh arrivals hourly. His provisions 
would give out, the bridges were raised and 
there was no hope of escape for the Spaniards, 
The truth of this reasoning was irrefutable, for, 
as Cortes afterwards wrote to Charles V., " they 
were perfectly right, for though we had no 



264 Fernando Cortes 

other enemy save starvation and the want of 
provisions, this would, suffice to kill us in a 
short time." ^ 

Friday, the twenty-ninth of June, showed the 
situation unchanged. The Spaniards managed 
to capture one of the ditches on the Tacuba 
causeway, where the Mexicans had destroyed 
the bridges, which they then filled in with 
adobes, pieces of wood and earth to establish 
a crossing for their horses. On Saturday, a 
review of their situation showed that, de- 
spite their efforts and their victories, they had 
not really bettered their situation : their number 
was daily reduced by death, while the severely 
wounded, destitute of proper attention and 
cure, encumbered the quarters where provisions 
had become so scanty that each white man re- 
ceived for his ration, a handful of maize, and 
each Tlascalan a tortilla.^ Another enemy now 
confronted Cortes, which was the grumbling, 
swelling daily to the very borders of rebellion, 
inside his quarters. The Narvaez contingent had 
suffered some bitter disappointments and pain- 
ful surprises. This march to Mexico under the 
triumphant standard of Cortes, had not proved 
the profitable excursion on which they had con- 
fidently set out. The stories told them of a 
magnificent capital, of which he was master, 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn i., p. 291. 

2 Flat cakes made of maize and water similar in form 
to a buckweat cake. 



Revolt of Mexico 265 

and where a captive sovereign daily distributed 
dazzling wealth to even the humblest foot- 
soldiers, were found to bear no resemblance to 
the facts with which they were confronted. Of 
treasure, they had seen none, and they were 
besieged by an hostile army in a capital that 
seemed destined to be the tomb of all of them. 
They audibly cursed Cortes who had led them 
into this situation. In the midst of these per- 
plexities, — war without and insurrection within 
his own quarters, — Cortes decided that he must 
at all costs fight his way out of the city. There 
was in his troop a soldier called Bias Botello, 
who enjoyed some reputation as an astrologer, 
or ,even as a magician amongst the more ig- 
norant. Cortes was not exempt from the in- 
fluence of ideas common enough, even amongst 
learned people in that century. Some of Bo- 
tello's minor predictions had been observed to 
come true and when consulted concerning the 
plan for leaving the capital, he answered that 
they must leave in the night. 

It was easier to perceive the wisdom of 
evacuating the city, than it was to devise means 
for accomplishing the undertaking. First of 
all it was necessary to gain possession of the 
ditches on the Tacuba road and to fill them in 
where the bridges had been destroyed. There 
were seven of these, and during two days the 
Mexicans defended them stoutly and were only 
overcome after exhausting combats, in one of 



266 Fernando Cortes 

which Cortes was even reported to have fallen. 
Another matter to be decided was the fate of 
the royal and noble captives. The simplest so- 
lution of this problem was the one Cortes 
adopted. He ordered them to be strangled in 
their chains. Was Montezuma included in the 
number of victims? Contradictory answers are 
given to this query by different authorities ; 
like the virtue of Mary Stuart and the death 
of Louis XVII., it occupies a place within the 
sphere of the eternally debatable. 

Montezuma Xocoyotzin, ninth king of Mexico, 
died on June 30, 1520, in the fifty second year 
of his age, the eighteenth of his reign, and in 
the seventh month of his captivity. His death 
was attributed by the Spaniards to the wound 
caused by the stone which struck him on the 
head; by the Mexicans it was, on the contrary, 
asserted that he was put to death by Cortes. 
The Codex Ramirez, before quoted from the 
work of Orozco y Berra, states that Montezuma 
was found stabbed to death by the Spaniards 
with the other chiefs who shared his captivity. 
Acosta accepts this as true, and Father Duran 
(cap. Ixxvi.) says, "They found him dead with 
chains upon his feet, and five dagger wounds 
in his breast, and with him, many other of the 
chiefs and lords who were prisoners." Amongst 
the murdered nobles were the kings of Tlacopan 
and Texcoco and the lord of Tlatelolco. Caca- 
matzin, according to Ixtlilxochitl, was stabbed 



Revolt of Mexico 267 

forty-five times, and he adds tliat Montezuma 
died from the wound in his head, " although 
his vassals say that the Spaniards themselves 
killed him, and plunged a sword into his 
fundament." ^ 

The murder of the other chiefs was deemed 
necessary, as it was neither possible to be 
burdened with them in the flight from the city, 
nor was it wise to release them. Their bodies 
were throw^n out of the Spanish quarters at a 
spot called Teayotl, because of a stone turtle 
that stood there, in the hope that their fate 
might discourage the people and also give them 
occupation in preparing their funerals as re- 
quired by custom.^ The account of the wound- 
ing and death of Montezuma given by Cortes, 
was naturally followed by Gomara; Oviedo also 
copies his words, and says that he heard the 
same account viva voce from Pedro de Alvarado ; 
Herrera asserts that the Emperor's wound was 
not mortal,^ but that he died because he refused 
all attendance and food; and Bernal Diaz, who 
relates the same story, adds the affecting detail 
that " Cortes and all the captains and soldiers 
wept as though they had lost a father," ^ w^hich 
those may believe who can. Clavigero refers 

1 Ixtlilxochitl, Hist. Chichimeca, cap. Ixxxviii. 

2 Sahagun, lib. xii,, cap. xxviii.; Ixtlixochitl, Hist. 
Chichimeca, cap. Ixxxviii. 

3 Lib. x., cap. x. 

* Hist. Verdad., cap. cxxviii. 



268 Fernando Cortes 

to tlie grief of the Spaniards, as described by 
Bernal Diaz, and says that in view of the con- 
tradictory accounts, it seems impossible to know 
the truth adding, " I cannot believe that the 
Spaniards would take the life of a king to whom 
they owed so many benefits and from whose 
death they would derive only evil." ^ 

The facts exclude participation in this chari- 
table incredulity; Montezuma's influence was 
gone; another leader had been chosen by the na- 
tion in the person of the brave Quauhtemotzin, 
and when Cortes announced his death, offering to 
deliver his body for burial the people cried out, 
"We want Montezuma neither living nor dead." ^ 
Hence the fallen sovereign's presence was only 
an embarrassment to Cortes, who was planning 
to fight his way out of the city with as few en- 
cumbrances as possible, — even the precious gold 
was being left behind. The moment the Em- 
peror became an obstacle, his doom was sealed, 
and there was nothing in the character or 
conduct of Cortes which warrants the belief 
that he was influenced by sentiments of com- 
passion for the King he had degraded, while his 
disposal of Cacamatzin at that time, and of 
Quauhtemotzin later in Yucatan, reveal the ab- 
sence of any scruples whatsoever. Prescott joins 
Clavigero in his generous assumption and, with 
a fine outburst of indignation, finds it " hardly 

1 Storia Antica del Messico, torn, ii., p. 103. 

2 Herrera, lib. x., cap. x. 



Revolt of Mexico 269 

necessary to comment on the absurdity of this 
monstrous imputation." Such sentiments do 
credit to the magnanimity of these writers for it 
is manifestly the nobler part to admit such a 
charge against Cortes, only wlien forced by irre- 
futable proofs, which in this case are not forth- 
coming. Orozco y Berra, the result of whose ex- 
tensive researches are expressed in calm judicial 
language in his Conquista de Mexico, adopts the 
Indian version. Clavigero has perhaps said the 
most that generous impartiality will allow, when 
he states that, " There reigns such variety among 
historians that it seems impossible to verify the 
truth." 

Torquemada ^ records that Montezuma's body 
was taken to Copalco where it was cremated, 
according to the Aztec usage, though the solem- 
nity was marred by the insults heaped by 
some of the bystanders upon the hapless corpse. 
Herrera was of the opinion that the body was 
buried at Chapultepec, because the Spaniards 
heard great lamentations in that quarter, and 
because that was the place of royal sei^ulture, 
but the observation of Clavigero on this opinion 
that there was no fixed place for burying the 
sovereigns and that Chapultepec, being some 
three miles distant from the Spanish quarters, 
it was hardly likely the sound of lamentation 
could have been beard there, seems to weaken 
this assumption. 

1 Lib. iv., cap. Ixx. 



270 Fernando Cortes 

Diego Munoz Camargo, the Tlascalan his- 
torian, would seem to be the chief authority 
for the pious legend that Montezuma was bap- 
tised by his own desire just before he died, and 
that Cortes and Pedro de Alvarado were his 
godfathers. Gomara asserts that the Emperor 
had expressed his wish to become a Christian 
prior to tlie departure of Cortes from Mexico 
to meet Narvaez, but that the ceremony was 
deferred until Easter, so that it might be cele- 
brated with more solemnity, and was afterwards 
forgotten amidst the confusion of the changed 
circumstances. The silence of Cortes on a 
matter he would have been eager to report in 
his letters, seems alone suf&cient to dispose of 
the assertion, and Torquemada, who would also 
have not been slow to enroll a royal convert, 
does not admit the story.^ 

A pathetic figure is that of this Aztec king, 
gifted with some of the highest qualities of his 
race, venerated during a long and prosperous 
reign almost as a demi-god, only to be humbled 
in the end to the very dust. The starting point 
of his downfall was his superstition, for, had 
he listened to his generals rather than to his 
priests, Cortes and his handful of adventurers 
would never have left the seacoast alive. The 
misfortunes and humiliations of the last months 
of his life seemed to completely change his 

1 Monarchia Indiana, lib. iv., cap. Ixx. ; Jose Ramirez, 
Bautismo de Motecuhzovia II., Noveno Rey de Mexico. 



Revolt of Mexico 271 

character, so that, from the time of his docile 
abdication at the bidding of Cortes, to the in- 
famy of his appearance on the walls of the 
Spanish quarters to rebuke his long-suffering 
people, he descended step by step on his way to 
the nameless grave where his dishonoured form 
was finally laid.^ 

iPrescott's description of the scenes of Montezuma's 
death-bed, with Cortes present, to whom he confided his 
daughters, is based upon the narration of Cortes made 
in the grant afterwards conceded to one of the daughters, 
Dona Isabel, when she married Alonso Grado, who is: 
described in the same document as an hidalgo of Al- 
cantara. It is to the Conqueror's credit that he recognisedl 
the debt of the Spanish crown to Montezuma, and that he 
procured the royal protection for his children. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE SORROWFUL NIGHT 

Saving the Treasure — The Retreat from Mexico — The 
Survivors — Battle of Otumba — Arrival in Tlascala. 

THE decision to leave the city silently and as 
secretly as possible, under cover of night 
having been agreed to by most of the captains, 
preparations for the flight were at once under- 
taken. The accumulated treasure that had al- 
ready cost such rivers of tears and blood was 
piled in a room of the palace and, the royal 
fifth being first carefully separated and con- 
fided to the charge of Alonso de Avila and 
Gonzalo de Mejia in their quality of officers of 
the Crown, the remainder was divided amongst 
the officers and men according to the provisions 
already stipulated. The quantity, however, was 
so great that it was impossible to carry it away, 
and the men were cautioned against loading 
themselves down with heavy weights that might 
prove their destruction. The wiser among them 
chose pearls and precious stones, with only such 
a small quantity of gold as they could easily 
carry; the more avaricious could not turn their 
backs on the shining heap of metal, but weighted 
themselves until they could hardly move. The 

272 



The Sorrowful Night 273 

hour fixed for departing, was midnight on the 
thirtieth of June. 

To Gonzalo de Sandoval with the captains 
Antonio de Quiiiones, Francisco de Acevedo, 
Francisco de Lugo, Diego de Ordaz, and Andres 
de Tapia, was assigned the vanguard, composed 
of two hundred foot-soldiers and twenty horse- 
men. They were charged with one of the most 
important duties of the march, namely the laying 
down of the portable bridge wherever the ditches 
in the causeway had not been filled in. This 
bridge was carried by four hundred Tlascalans 
who were under the protection of fifty soldiers 
commanded by a captain, Magarino. Cortes 
took command of the centre division of his 
forces, with Alonso de Avila, Cristobal de Olid, 
and Velasquez de Tapia as captains under him. 
Two hundred and fifty Tlascalans, protected by 
forty shield-bearers, dragged the artillery in this 
division, in which were the baggage, the treas- 
ure, the prisoners, and the women. The latter 
comprised Marina and two of Montezuma's 
daughters who were placed under a guard com- 
posed of thirty Spaniards and three hundred 
auxiliaries; two sons of Montezuma, the young 
King of Texcoco, and a few others who had es- 
caped the general execution that afternoon, were 
among the prisoners. The rear-guard, under 
command of Pedro de Alvarado and Juan Velas- 
quez de Leon, was composed of the main body of 
infantry and most of the force of cavalry. 
18 



2 74 Fernando Cortes 

The night was dark with a drizzling rain. 
Leaving fires lighted, the troop cautiously 
emerged at the hour of midnight into the de- 
serted streets of the sleeping city, making its 
way as silently as possible along the street lead- 
ing to the Tlacopan causeway. Magarino and 
his men had placed their bridge over the first 
ditch and the vanguard and artillery had passed 
safely over when, out of the darkness, was heard 
a cry of alarm that was quickly taken up by 
other Mexican sentinels, and in a moment the 
city was roused. The priests, keeping watch at 
the sacred fires on the teocalU, began to beat 
the sacred drum whose lugubrious roll could be 
heard for miles. From all sides the Aztec war- 
riors fell upon their escaping foes, the surface 
of the lake on both sides of the causeway be- 
came alive with light canoes, darting hither and 
thither, from which volleys of arrows and sling 
stones were discharged into the now disordered 
mass of panic-stricken fugitives. The bridge, 
upon which their safety so greatly depended, 
was found to be wedged fast and immovable 
after the passage of so many horses and heavy 
guns, while at the second ditch, the people in 
the fore were being driven into the water by 
the pressure of the oncoming multitude from 
behind. Terror banished discipline and the re- 
treat became a mad scramble for safety, in which 
each one thought only of himself. The second 
ditch became quickly choked with guns, bag- 



The Sorrowful Night 275 

gage, dead bodies of men and horses, over which 
the later comers sought to struggle to the op- 
posite side. Cortes, leaving those of his own 
people who had managed to cross the second 
ditch, returned to the scene of confusion to lend 
what assistance he might to the rear-guard. 
Many of those who fell into the water met a more 
terrible fate than mere drowning, being seized 
by the Mexicans and carried off in their canoes 
to die on the stone of sacrifice. The third ditch 
was still spanned by a single beam, over which 
some of the more agile of the first to reach it, 
were able to cross, but the onrush from behind 
was too great and the attack of the enemy too 
fierce to allow many to profit by this narrow 
road to safety. The commander's voice, giving 
orders and seeking to calm his people, was lost in 
the uproar of battle, the shrieks of the drowning, 
and the wild shouts of the assailants; the scene 
of confusion at the second ditch repeated itself. 
It was at this ditch that Alvarado is alleged to 
have made his incredible leap, one of the ex- 
ploits of the conquest so firmly rooted in three 
centuries of tradition and popular folklore that 
no proof, however lucid, of its entirely apoc- 
ryphal character will ever dislodge it.^ The last 
of the baggage and treasure was here abandoned, 
and the Mexicans allowed themselves to be di- 

1 Bemal Diaz, cap. cxxviii. ; Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., 
p. 450. 



276 Fernando Cortes 

verted from further pursuit by their desire to 
collect the rich spoils. 

The dawn that broke after the Sorrowful Night 
found the remnant of the army at Popothla, a 
village situated on the shore of the lake. And 
what a sad remnant I Forty-six horses were 
dead, the artillery no longer existed, hardly a 
musket had been saved, the treasure was lost, all 
the prisoners had fallen, and the few men who 
filed before the commander, as he sat on the 
steps of a temple ^ with unaccustomed tears roll- 
ing down his cheeks, were soaked to the skin, 
destitute of arms, and so caked from head to foot 
with mud and the blood of their wounds, as to 
be scarcely recognisable. The actual number 
of the dead cannot be positively known, for 
the figures given by different writers are hope- 
lessly conflicting, Prescott, whose judgment it 
is safe to follow, adopted the estimate of Gomara, 
according to which four hundred and fifty Span- 
iards and four thousand of their Indian allies 
perished during the retreat. Cortes, in his 
letter to the Emperor, reduces these figures to 
one hundred and fifty Spaniards and two thou- 
sand Indians, but his tendency throughout his 
reports was to minimise his losses. Oviedo ^ 
quoting Juan Cano, one of the gentlemen pre- 

1 The site is still pointed out and a venerable tree stand- 
ing there is known as the Arbol de la Noche Triste, or 
" Tree of the Sorrowful Night." 

2 Lib. xxxiii., cap. liv. 



The Sorrowful Night 277 

sent, states that eleven hundred and seventy 
Spaniards and eight thousand Indians were 
killed and missing. Cano's estimate was made 
in Tlascala, and included all who fell during the 
whole of the retreat from Mexico until safety 
was reached inside the loyal republic, but his au- 
thority is questionable. He it was who invented 
the tale that two hundred and seventy men of 
the Spanish garrison, who were ignorant of the 
plan to march out of the city, were left behind 
in the quarters where, after surrendering to the 
Mexicans, they were all sacrificed. He does not 
explain how these men were kept in ignorance, 
while their comrades departed with the artillery, 
baggage, and all of the treasure they could 
carry. In Herrera's account of the plan to es- 
cape from Mexico by night, the historian records 
that Ojeda was particularly charged by Cortes 
with the care of the wounded and to see that 
no one was left behind in the hurried prepara- 
tions.^ 

The Spaniards who remained behind were 
either unwilling to relinquish the gold collected 
in the quarters or, failing to cross the first 
bridge, found themselves driven back by the 
crowd of Mexican warriors that cut them off 
from joining their comrades. The latter ex- 
planation seems the more probable. Herrera 
fixes their number at one hundred ; Acosta men- 

1 Hist. General, dec. ii., lib. x., cap. xii. ; Orozco y 
Berra, torn, iv., p. 456. 



278 Fernando Cortes 

tions the fact but gives no figures. These un- 
fortunates managed to hold out for three days, 
at the end of which time they were forced by 
hunger to make terms with the Mexicans. Al- 
though there is nowhere an authentic record of 
their end, there is little doubt as to their fate. 
Deplorable as were the losses, the condition of 
those who survived the Sorrowful Night and 
reached Tacuba was hardly less discouraging, for 
so broken and exhausted were they that not even 
in defence of their lives did they seem able to 
raise a hand, while their horses could scarcely 
stand on their trembling legs, much less carry 
their riders. 

Of the captains, Francisco de Morla and 
Juan Velasquez de Leon were numbered amongst 
the dead. Sandoval, Alvarado, Olid, Avila, and 
Ordaz had come out alive, and both the inter- 
preters, Marina and Aguilar, were likewise 
among the survivors. The vanguard was pushed 
on to Tacuba, where Cortes overtook them, 
collected in the public square and not knowing 
whither to turn. Just outside the city a group 
of temple buildings crowned a hilltop, and there 
he decided to rest his weary men, though 
they were obliged to make one more effort and 
dislodge some Indians who held possession of 
the buildings. The danger of another attack 
inside a town, where the Mexicans would have 
the advantage of roofs from which to fight and 
houses in which to tate shelter, admitted of no 



The Sorrowful Night 279 

choice. Fortunately the Indian occupants of- 
fered no serious resistance and the Spaniards 
were soon decently lodged within the court- 
yards and buildings, where provisions and fire- 
wood were fortunately found. One whole day 
of blessed respite was vouchsafed the Christians, 
during which they dressed their wounds, re- 
paired what arms and armour remained to them, 
and obtained some much-needed rest.^ The 
Aztecs were evidently engaged inside their city 
and refrained from any attack. At midnight, 
Cortes resumed his march, guided by a Tlascalan 
who professed to be able to lead him to Tlascala, 
unless they were stopped; care was taken to 
leave the fires burning, the badly wounded were 
carried on litters, while those who were able to 
keep their seats mounted behind the horsemen. 
All went passing w^ell until the morning light 
betrayed their whereabouts to their enemies, 
who thenceforth gave them no peace, following 
close on their rear, and harrassing them with 
piercing yells and showers of missiles. Pro- 
visions, there were none, save what little maize 
they chanced upon in the fields, and even the 
cornstalks were eagerly devoured; wild fruits, 
especially cherries, were their mainstay and a 
horse that was killed, was entirely consumed, 
not even his hide remaining.^ One Spaniard, 

1 The church of Nuestra Seiiora de los Remedios stands 
on this site and the statue of the Virgin kept there is 
believed to be the one brought to Mexico by Cortes. 

^Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 303. 



2»0 



Fernando Cortes 



goaded by hunger and perhaps infected by the 
cannibalism of the Indians, cut open a dead 
body and ate the liver.^ Cortes ordered him to 
be hanged on the spot. During this painful 
retreat many died of wounds and exhaustion, 
others, who were too weak to keep up with the 
main body, dropped behind only to be pounced 
upon by the pursuers and carried off to be sac- 
rificed, while stragglers who wandered too far 
in search of food met the same dismal fate. 

In six days of such marching the Spaniards 
covered only nine leagues and, though intermit- 
tent skirmishing had accompanied their every 
movement, they had encountered no consider- 
able number of the enemy, until on the seventh 
day, when they crossed the ridge of hills that 
shuts in the valley of Otumba they beheld, to 
their dismay, a vast body of troops prepared 
to dispute their advance. This force, composed 
largely of men from Texcoco, Tlacopan, and the 
towns along the lakes, was commanded by 
Cihuacoatl and had been sent by Cuitlahuat- 
zin to intercept the retreat to Tlascala, whither 
his spies informed him the Spaniards were 
directing their march. 

Cortes quickly put his weary men in order 
of battle, the wounded being placed in a hollow 
square former by the infantry. Briefly, but in 
well-chosen and forceful words he spoke to them ; 

1 Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., p. 460. 



The Sorrowful Night 281 

it was victory or death that faced them all. 
From all sides the multitudes of warriors rushed 
upon the little company of Christians, surround- 
ing, engulfing, and so entirely overwhelming 
them that they no longer distinguished one 
another, nor friend from foe. For hours the 
battle raged with varying fortunes, for, although 
the Spaniards performed prodigies of valour, 
the numbers of the enemy were such that the 
losses inflicted on them made no visible dif- 
ference. Towards midday the Spaniards be- 
came disorganised and began to give way. The 
Aztec commander, who was carried by his nobles 
in a litter and was surrounded by his body- 
guard, had taken his station on a hillock, from 
whence he could direct the movements of his 
troops. There also floated the great standard 
of battle. Suddenly across the mind of Cortes 
thsre flashed the recollection that the death of 
the commander and the capture of his standard 
were the signal amongst the Mexicans for a 
general retreat. Summoning six of his most 
trusty captains, he led a charge directly 
at the group on the hill, the horses forcing a 
passage through the compact masses of strug- 
gling warriors. In an instant the litter was 
overturned, Juan de Salamanca slew the pro- 
strate Cihuacoatl, and seizing the standard he 
thrust it into the hand of Cortes who raised it 
in sight of all with a cry of victory. The effect 
was instantaneous, for the Mexicans, as though 



2 82 Fernando Cortes 

stricken with a sudden panic, fled in all di- 
rections, abandoning the field to their exhausted 
foe. The wine of victory renewed the ebbing 
strength of the Spaniards and their allies who, 
but an instant before, had felt the faintness of 
certain death chill their veins, and in an in- 
stant they were in full pursuit of the flying 
enemy, until the field was cleared of all save 
the dead and the victors. So sudden and so 
marvellous was this victory by a handful of 
fugitives, worn out with fatigue and hunger and 
weakened by wounds and discouragement, that 
it seemed to the Spaniards only explicable by 
the direct intervention of their protecting saints, 
Santiago and St. Peter. Even Bernal Diaz, who 
on other occasions had doubted or at least had 
failed to perceive the celestial apparitions that 
his companions declared they beheld, conceded 
that on this occasion supernatural assistance 
won the victory.^ 

The spoils were sufficiently rich and very wel- 
come. The Aztec host was estimated by early 
Spanish writers to number two hundred thou- 
sand men and their losses to have been twenty 
thousand; to the men engaged in that day's 
fight, no doubt these figures did not seem ex- 
cessive. That night Cortes and his men slept 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cxxviii. ; Gomara, cap. ex. ; Sahagun, 
lib. xii., cap. xxvii.; Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 303.; 
Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. Ixxiii.; Herrera, dec. ii., lib. x., 
cap. xiii. 



The Sorrowful Night 283 

at Apan, and the next morning, July 8tli, they 
reached a fountain of clear water, where all drank 
and bathed and refreshed themselves before 
crossing the frontier of the Tlascalan republic. 
During the long march from Tacuba, Cortes had 
been assailed by doubts as to the reception that 
awaited him in Tlascala, where the news of the 
Sorrowful Night would have preceded him and 
where he arrived, no longer as a conquering 
teule, invincible, if not immortal, but as a 
wretched fugitive who, after leading thousands 
of Tlascalan warriors to their death in the 
Aztec capital, now craved shelter and succour 
from the republic. At Hueyothlipan, the first 
Tlascalan town after crossing the boundary, he 
learned his first lesson of Tlascalan loyalty; 
hospitably received and cared for, he was al- 
most immediately visited by the four aged rulers 
of the republic who came from the capital to 
welcome and console him. Mingled with their 
words of comfort were gentle reproaches and 
reminders of their warnings to him of Mexican 
treachery and perfidy. They renewed their offer 
of a perpetual alliance and were already plan- 
ning vengeance for the losses they had sustained. 
Cortes and the Tlascalan chiefs were made to 
understand one another; their tempers were of 
the same metal, for the effect of defeat upon 
both him and them was to confirm the determi- 
nation to conquer. Leaving Hueyothlipan, the 
Spaniards repaired to the capital where an 



284 Fernando Cortes 

abundance of provisions was furnished, and such 
care for the wounded as the simple pharmacy 

of these rude mountaineers could offer was 
supplied. 

This second entrance of Cortes and his men 
into the chief city of Tlascala was marked by 
as great demonstrations of amity and enthusi- 
asm as had greeted him on the occasion of his 
first reception there. Through the chorus of 
welcome there sounded, however, a minor chord 
of sorrow, for of all the hosts of Tlascala that 
had gone forth to Mexico in his train, many 
were missing among the sadly diminished troop 
of returning braves. The women of Tlascala 
crowded around, seeking their husbands, sons, 
and brothers, only to break forth into shrill 
wailings or to turn aside, convulsed with silent 
grief when those they sought were not found. 
Cortes was deeply afflicted at witnessing, help- 
lessly, these demonstrations of grief and, through 
his interpreters he sought, as far as words could 
do so, to console them.^ 

Thirty days of repose within the hospitable 
city did much towards restoring the wasted 
forces of the men and healing their wounds. 
Cortes wrote that he lost two fingers of his left 
hand, but there is reason to believe that this 
passage in his letter to Charles V. was either in- 
accurately expressed or has since been miscopied. 

1 Sahagun, lib. xii., cap. xxvii.; Bernal Diaz, cap. 

cxxviii. 



The Sorrowful Night 285 

It is probably the fact that he lost the use of two 
fingers.^ A bad wound on his head necessitated 
the removal of a piece of bone and brought on 
a severe fever, over which his magnificent con- 
stitution fortunately triumphed. Four men 
died and many others remained lamed or 
maimed for life. 

During this period of recuperation, the news 
of several disasters reached Cortes, proving that 
the recent reverses suffered in Mexico had not 
been without their influence in other parts of 
the country. Forty-five Spaniards from Vera 
Cruz, who had undertaken to bring certain treas- 
ure that he had deposited in Tlascala to Mexico, 
had been intercepted and massacred on the road ; 
another party, consisting of twelve men, had 
been surprised and slaughtered by the natives 
of Tepeaca, a province that bordered on Tlas- 
cala, while from all sides unwelcome evidences 
of his fallen prestige accumulated. A messenger 
whom he sent to Vera Cruz returned, bearing a 
letter from the captain there, conveying the en- 
couraging news that the little colony had suf- 
fered no reverses and that the Totonac tribes 
remained faithful to their alliance. 

It is significant of the unfaltering determina- 
tion of Cortes to persist in his mission of con- 
quest that, amidst circumstances well calculated 
to dishearten the bravest and which would cer- 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 307 ; Orozco y Berra, 
torn, iv., p. 464. 



286 Fernando Cortes 

tainly have warranted his relinquishing, or at 
least postponing plans for further hostilities, it 
seems never to have even occurred to him that 
there was any other course open, than to reorgan- 
ise his force and resume his efforts to sub- 
jugate the Mexicans. He solemnly renewed his 
pact with the rulers of Tlascala, forming an 
offensive and defensive alliance, in which both 
the obligations of each of the contracting parties 
and the compensations to be given the Tlas- 
calans for their services were clearly defined. 
In the name of his sovereign and of the Crown 
of Castile, Cortes promised that Cholula and 
certain other towns should be ceded to the re- 
public; that Tlascalan warriors should garrison 
the fortress, to be constructed in Mexico when 
the city should be taken, and that all citizens 
of the republic, their descendants and successors 
forever, should be free from every form of tax- 
ation and tribute. Other promises of minor 
importance were included in the articles of this 
treaty, of which the Tlascalans were faithfully 
observant, both in the spirit and the letter, 
while the Spaniards violated every pledge they 
had given. Cortes did, indeed, remember to ob- 
tain from Charles V., in 1528, a decree exempt- 
ing the Tlascalans from taxation, but even this 
concession proved illusory and ephemeral. That 
once hardy people was gradually dispersed and 
lost its separate identity, while of its once 
flourishing capital hardly a vestige remains, — 



The Sorrowful Night 287 

a squalid village of poverty-stricken Indians. 
This people forsook their own race and threw 
in their part with the invading stranger. With- 
out their aid, Cortes could not have conquered 
Mexico. Their motives were hatred and long- 
ing for revenge, both of which w^ere gratified 
by their ally, though their own state was en- 
gulfed in the general downfall of the peoples 
of Andhuac. The conditions of the solemn pact 
were ignored and, once their services were no 
longer required, the claims of the Tlascalan re- 
public to a share in the fruits of the victory 
they so largely contributed to achieve were 
relegated to oblivion. 

" ®cr Tloox \)at feine Sd^ulbigfeit get^an, 
S)er Woot faun ge^en." 

While the mind of Cortes was busy with 
new schemes and plans for his future cam- 
paign, many of his followers were absorbed 
in reflections of a different complexion. It 
will be remembered that a large number of 
them, perhaps even the majority amongst the 
survivors, were those who had joined Cortes 
after the defeat of Narvaez. These men had 
been hurried from Vera Cruz up to Mexico, 
where they found themselves plunged into 
the sufferings and horrors of such fighting 
as they had never conceived and in the course 
of which a good part of their comrades had 
perished, while the survivors only reached safety 



2 88 Fernando Cortes 

in Tlascala after a desperate retreat they were 
not likely soon to forget. From the date of 
their .entrance into the Aztec capital, where 
their dreams of wealth and conquest promised 
to be realised, until the morning when the way- 
worn remnant of that dashing troop staggered 
wounded and bleeding over the Tlascalan fron- 
tier, barely a fortnight had elapsed, but within 
that brief period they had endured and suf- 
fered enough for a lifetime. 

Many of these men were not properly soldiers 
at all; they were planters and well-to-do colo- 
nists in the Islands, who had joined Narvaez's 
expedition, tempted by the prospect of increas- 
ing their patrimony by a lucky venture in 
Mexico. Their inclinations recalled them to the 
scene of their interests, and those who had sur- 
vived that awful adventure were prepared to 
thankfully return to the more modest but less 
perilous methods of fortune-hunting with which 
they were familiar in Cuba. 

By the first of August Cortes was sufficiently 
recovered from his wounds to think seriously of 
beginning active operations. While the Tlas- 
calan rulers and nobles were ready to support 
him, the common people grumbled as loudly as 
his own men. To quell the rising discontent 
and furnish occupation that might silence their 
complaints, Cortes announced a punitive ex- 
pedition into the neighbouring province of 
Tepeaca, where the inhabitants had murdered 



The Sorrowful Night 289 

the Spaniards on their way from Vera Cruz, 
and where there were garrisons of Mexicans 
which he thought it wise to disperse. The idea 
of undertaking a new campaign or another as- 
sault on the Mexicans seemed to the malcon- 
tents, neither more nor less than a form of 
madness and, seeing that their not unreason- 
able arguments against these courses exerted 
no influence on their commander's decision, they 
drew up a written statement in which, after 
reviewing their situation and pointing out the 
rashness of continuing the war, they demanded 
to be led back to Vera Cruz immediately. 

This document was read to Cortes by a notary 
public, and his old friend and ally, Andres de 
Duero, headed the deputation that presented it. 
Cortes was inflexible; he declared that For- 
tune always favoured the daring, and that as 
they were Christians, they must confide in the 
mercy of God, Who would never permit them to 
perish ; the war must be continued and the coun- 
try reconquered, because to abandon it now would 
be disgraceful to himself, dangerous to his men, 
and treasonable to their King; he had taken 
his determination to renew hostilities at the 
earliest possible moment and with greater vigour 
than before,^ and he forbade any one to men- 
tion the subject again in his presence ; in conclu- 
sion he gave leave to all who wished to desert 
him, to do so, for he preferred to have few but 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, i., p. 306. 
19 



290 Fernando Cortes 

brave men, than many false or cowardly ones. 
As usual, he struck the right chord and the 
veterans rallied at once to support their leader 
so that, partly owing to his energy and partly 
to the taunts and jibes of those faithful to him, 
the disaffected party was silenced and agreed 
to remain, at least for the present. It is evident 
that few, if any, of the companions of Cortes 
understood him; his admirers, who were ready 
to follow him anywhere, were attracted by the 
magnetism which, as a born leader, he exercised 
powerfully over just such men as they. He 
was their alter ego, in whom they beheld re- 
flected their own daring aspirations but united 
to powers of command as alien to their inferior 
abilities, as they were necessary to the success 
of their wild undertakings. 

Cortes was indeed daring, but he was never 
rash. 

His seemingly spontaneous decisions were, in 
reality, the result of plans carefully formed, of 
cautious calculations that seemed to take cog- 
nisance of every emergency, to forestall every 
risk. In the execution of his designs he was 
relentless, hence the unmerited reputation for 
cruelty that has obscured his really kindly in- 
stincts and many generous deeds. Both his 
resolution and his perseverance were implacable, 
and those who did not willingly bend to his will 
were made to break. Sois mon frere ou je te 
tuG, not inaccurately describes his attitude to 



The Sorrowful Night 291 

those who crossed his path. His equanimity was 
never disturbed by misfortune, and, as he sus- 
tained success without undue elation, so did he 
support reverses with fortitude; defeat might be 
a momentary check but was never accepted as 
final. Besides being compared with Julius 
Caesar as a general, he has been ranked with 
Augustus and Charles V. as a statesman, nor 
does he unduly suffer from such lofty com- 
parisons, for he unquestionably possessed many 
of the qualities essential to greatness, in com- 
mon with them. He ruled his motley band 
with a happy mixture of genial comradeship and 
inflexible discipline and hence succeeded, where 
an excess of either the one or the other would 
have brought failure. He knew when and whom 
to trust and, though he was ready with his 
friendship, he avoided favouritism, with the con- 
sequence that his men were united by the bond 
of a common trust in their commander. 



CHAPTER XII 

REINFORCEMENTS AND A NEW CAMPAIGN 

Montezuma's Successor — Campaigning in Tepeaca — 
Founding of Segura de la Frontera — Reinforcements 
Second Letter of Relation — Death of Maxixcatzin — 
The Brigantines — Ordinances — Headquarters at Tex- 
coco. 

AFTER the death of Montezuma, Cuitlahuatzin 
of Iztapalapan, who had been in command 
of the rising against the Spaniards, assumed 
the chieftainship and three months later (Aztec 
calendar) he was elected Emperor. His coro- 
nation was celebrated with the customary solem- 
nities, the prisoners taken on the Sorrowful 
Night, both Spaniards and Tlascalans, serving 
as victims for the sacrifices. The newly elected 
sovereign had to cope with a situation bristling 
with difficulties — dissensions within, insubordi- 
nation in the tributary provinces, the enemy 
without and, finally, and most terrible of all, 
the smallpox, that raged throughout the country. 
To this dread pest, called by the Aztecs teoza- 
huatl, Cuitlahuac fell a victim, dying after a 
brief reign of eighty days, on November 25, 1520. 
During this period he had exerted every effort 
to unite all the forces of Mexico against the 
common enemy, sending embassies to friends 
and foes alike, urging that old differences be 

292 



A New Campaign 293 

buried for the moment and that all should make 
common cause to expel or destroy the strangers. 

He found a supporter in Xieotencatl who, 
like himself, had never believed in the semi- 
divine character of the teules, but had from 
the first distrusted them and counselled their 
destruction. Maxixcatzin withstood Xieotencatl 
in the Tlascalan senate when the embassy 
from Mexico appeared, proposing an alliance; 
an acrimonious dispute ensued, in the course 
of which the old senator struck the young 
general and knocked him down the steps of the 
rostrum. Maxixcatzin profited by the divided 
opinions to impose his decision, and the am- 
bassadors hurriedly withdrew to report their 
failure to their sovereign. 

The importance to the Spaniards of the re- 
jection of Cuitlahuatzin's overtures to the Tlas- 
calans, cannot be overestimated. Had Maxix- 
catzin not prevailed over the eloquence of 
General Xieotencatl, Cortes would have found 
himself in a situation that would have taxed 
even his courage and ingenuity beyond their 
powers. He recognised his debt to the venerable 
regent and paid him a visit, for the express 
purpose of thanking him for his magnificent 
demonstration of fidelity. 

The campaign against the Indians of Tepeaca 
having been decided upon, the Tlascalans fur- 
nished fifty thousand warriors led by nobles 
chosen from the four states of the republic. 



294 Fernando Cortes 

Cortes promised the states of Cliolula and 
Huexotzinco to the republic in recompense for 
the assistance furnished him.^ The Spanish 
force numbered seventeen horsemen and four 
hundred foot-soldiers. The natives of Tepeaca 
were a warlike people of Aztec blood and were 
subjects of Montezuma, hence Cortes, accord- 
ing to his theory, was leading an expedition 
against Spanish subjects who were in open 
rebellion against the King. Montezuma hav- 
ing acknowledged himself a vassal of the Crown 
and having enjoined upon all his subjects to 
transfer their allegiance and pay their taxes 
to Cortes, as the representative of the King 
of Spain, it logically followed that the Tepe- 
acans were in revolt, and must be reduced 
to order and obedience. A summons to submit 
having met with a defiant answer, the first 
battle was fought near Zacatepec and, although 
the Tepeacans and their allies of Cholula and 
Huexotzinco made a gallant stand, they were 
overcome and routed with great loss. The 
historian Herrera relates that the Tlascalans 
supped that night off the legs and arms of their 
enemies, which they roasted on spits, and that 
no less than fifty thousand cauldrons of human 
flesh stewed over their camp-fires. Cortes had 
forbidden human sacrifices and discouraged 
cannibalism, but the hosts of his allies were 

1 Ixtlilxochitl, Historia Chichimeca, cap. xc. ; Motolinia 
in Icazbalceta, pars iii., cap. xvi. 



A New Campaign 295 

beyond his control and their commissariat was 
provisioned according to their own barbarous 
custom.^ 

Town after town fell rapidly before the in- 
vaders until the capital was taken, sacked, and 
its inhabitants sold as slaves. The Spaniards 
selected the women and the boys, while the 
men fell to the share of the Tlascalans, who 
were well pleased by the fidelity of their ally to 
his promises. On the site of the capital, a 
Spanish town was founded to which the name 
of Segura de la Frontera was given. The 
position was well chosen, both as a strategical 
base and for keeping open the line of com- 
munication with Vera Cruz and the coast. 
From this point of vantage, Cortes next pro- 
ceeded to the reduction of the town of Quauh- 
quechollan (or Guacachula as the Spaniards 
called it), a place so admirably situated and 
strongly fortified as to be considered well- 
nigh impregnable. The town lay some five 
leagues to the south-west of Segura de la Fron- 
tera and, in addition to its population of thirty 
thousand people, it was garrisoned by an 
important force of Mexican warriors. The 
arrogance and exactions of the Aztecs bred 
treachery amongst the inhabitants, and the ca- 
cique of the place sent, offering to betray the 
city and formulating a plan by which this 

1 Bernaldino Vasquez de Tapia, torn, ii., p. 58 ; Orozco 
y Berra, torn, iv., p. 477. 



296 Fernando Cortes 

might be successfully accomplished. Guaca- 
chula fell, and the spoil of the Aztec camp, 
which was unusually rich, was shared with the 
allies. Dividing his forces, Cortes next sent 
expeditions in various directions to reduce the 
minor villages and disperse the Aztec camps, 
with the result that the whole of the fertile 
region lying between Popocatepetl on the west 
and Orizaba on the east submitted to the Span- 
iards. Not only was his prestige re-established, 
his influence over the natives augmented, but 
he had attached his allies to him by a display 
of consideration and generosity that was 
irresistible. 

Fortune, as Cortes had assured his wavering 
men, favours the daring, and something of his 
own spirit had evidently communicated itself 
to his lieutenants, inspiring them with the same 
audacity and cunning he was wont to display. 
At this time there arrived at Vera Cruz a 
vessel sent by Diego Velasquez, carrying thir- 
teen soldiers under command of Pedro Barba, 
who brought letters from the governor to 
Narvaez. Pedro Caballero, who had been ap- 
pointed captain of the port, visited the ship 
and, in reply to the commander's inquiries as 
to the success of Narvaez, assured him that 
the latter was in command while Cortes, with a 
handful of his followers, was a fugitive from 
justice. Suspecting nothing, Barba landed his 
men and two horses, but no sooner were they 



A New Campaign 297 

on shore than Caballero declared them his 
prisoners; he brought everything of value off 
their ship which he then burned, after which 
he despatched the entire company to Tepeaca, 
where Cortes gave them an enthusiastic wel- 
come, loading the men with presents, embracing 
Barba as an old friend and enrolling them all un- 
der his standard. No resistance was offered and 
Barba was made a captain. 

Eight days later, the same stratagem was suc- 
cessfully operated on Eodrigo Morejon and his 
eight men, who arrived with some welcome pro- 
vision of guns and stores. Francisco de Garay, 
who was renewing his efforts to colonise in the 
Panuco region, had sent a fleet of three caravels 
under Diego Camargo to found a settlement. 
This expedition was composed of one hundred 
and fifty men, seven of whom brought their own 
horses, and was provided with artillery and 
and other necessary stores. After disastrous 
encounters with the Indians and the loss of 
two of the ships, the survivors of this company 
reached Vera Cruz and were promptly marched 
off to join the camp in Tepeaca. A fourth ship 
of Garay's that had been sent to look for the 
missing three, after failing to discover them, like- 
wise put in at Vera Cruz, and the entire equip- 
ment, numbering fifty soldiers and seven cavalry 
besides the sailors, went to swell the growing 
forces at Tepeaca. 

Francisco de Garay deserved to succeed, for. 



298 Fernando Cortes 

not discouraged by the disappearance of his 
four ships, he despatched still another, carrying 
one hundred and twenty foot-soldiers and four- 
teen horsemen. Upon their arrival at Vera 
Cruz, it was made clear ,to them that the settle- 
ment at Panuco was a failure, the Indians 
hostile, and the project impossible. They forth- 
with marched to Tepeaca and Joined the army 
of the conquerors. More or less authentic news 
of the events in Mexico had spread to the 
Spanish colonies in the Islands, and the cap- 
tain of a Spanish ship just arrived in Cuba 
with a cargo of arms, ammunitions, and general 
stores for the settlements in America, decided 
that Mexico was his best market and forthwith 
sailed for Vera Cruz. The captain of the port 
bought the entire cargo, and some of the crew, 
fired by the gossip of the settlement concerning 
the events in the interior, deserted and made 
their way to the Spanish quarters at Segura 
de la Frontera. 

The hostilities in Tepeaca had meanwhile been 
succeeded by tranquillity; the policy of merci- 
lessly punishing all who resisted and of wel- 
coming with open arms and flattering speeches 
those who yielded peaceably had produced its 
natural result. From Segura de la Frontera, 
Cortes wrote his second Carta de Relaclon to 
Charles V., in which he gave the Emperor a 
full description of all that had happened. In 
this letter which bore the date of October 30, 



A New Campaign 299 

1520, he announced that he had given to the 
country he was conquering the name of New 
Spain of the Ocean Sea, for which he begged 
the Emperor's gracious sanction.^ The name 
did not, however, originate with him, for Juan 
de Grijalba had already applied it to the coun- 
try during his expedition along the coast from 
Cozumel to San Juan de Ulua in 1518. 

Cortes owed not a little of his rapidly in- 
creasing authority over the natives to the 
ravages of the smallpox. The Indians recog- 
nised the right of conquest; to be ruled by the 
strong was, in their eyes, to be ruled by the 
right man and, as hitherto they had passed 
unprotestingly from the dominion of one tyrant 
to that of another, so did they accept their 
new ruler, once his power was established. 
They referred their local affairs to his judg- 
ment, they brought their disputes to him for 
settlement and, as many of their chiefs and 
nobles had died of smallpox and there were 
cases of disputed succession, these were like- 
wise voluntarily submitted to his arbitration. 
Not only was he supreme military commander, to 
whom the provinces supplied levies of troops, but 
he likewise exercised the same civil jurisdiction 

1 This letter was first printed in Seville by Juan Cron- 
berger on the eighth of November, 1522. It is known in 
the collection of his letters as the Second Relation. Letters 
of Cortes to Charles V. English translation by F. A. 
MacNutt, New York, 1908. 



300 Fernando Cortes 

as Montezuma had done in tlie days of his su- 
premacy and by identically the same title — the 
right of conquest. 

The smallpox numbered among its victims 
the venerable Maxixcatzin, by whose death 
Cortes lost his firmest friend in Tlascala. The 
news that the chief was stricken down, first 
came from the ship's carpenter, Martin Lopez, 
who had been sent to the city to begin the 
construction of the brigantines. Maxixcatzin 
expressed a wish to die a Christian and Lopez 
sent his message to Cortes, who immediately 
despatched Fray Bartolome de Olmedo to ad- 
minister both the first and the last rites of the 
Catholic Church to the dying chief. He wore 
mourning for his dead friend, and amidst the 
celebrations and demonstrations that greeted 
his triumphal return to Tlascala, the loss he 
had suffered weighed heavily on his spirits. 
His first care was to recognise the young son 
of the deceased chieftain, a lad of thirteen 
years, as heir to his father's rank and estates, 
causing him also to be baptised a Christian 
and enrolled as a Spanish knight. Prescott 
observes that this was probably the first in- 
stance of knighthood being conferred on an 
American Indian.^ The boy took the name of 
Lorenzo and became known thenceforward as 
Don Lorenzo Maxixcatzin. 

Experience had shown Cortes that a most 

^ Conquest of Mexico, torn, iii., p. 407. 



A New Campaign 301 

valuable auxiliary to his military operations 
against the city of Mexico would be a fleet of 
ships, and while still at Segura de la Frontera, 
he had sent Martin Lopez • back to Tlascala 
with orders to begin the construction of thir- 
teen brigantines, on much the same lines as 
those he had built for Montezuma. His own 
account in his second letter to the Emperor is 
the best that could be given of his activity 
during this period of preparation for the great 
war. 

I sent four ships to the island of Hispaniola 
that they might return quickly with horses and 
people for our assistance; and I likewise sent to 
buy four others, so that they might bring from 
the island of Hispaniola, and the city of San Do- 
mingo, horses and horsemen, bows, and powder, 
because these are what we most need in these parts. 
Foot-soldiers armed with shields are of little serv- 
ice, on account of the great number of people and 
their having so great and such strong cities and 
forts. I therefore wrote to the licentiate, Rodrigo 
de Figueroa, and to Your Highness's officials in 
the said island, asking them to favour and assist 
me as much as possible, as it was of such import- 
ance to Your Highness's service, and to the security 
of our lives, since, on the arrival of this help, 
I intended to return against the capital and its 
country; and I believe, as I have already told Your 
Majesty, that it will again in a short time return 
to the condition in which I had it before, and that 
the past losses will be made good. Meanwhile I 



302 Fernando Cortes 

am engaged in building twelve brigantines to launch 
on the lake, and already they are making the deck- 
ing and other parts of them, because they have to 
be carried overland^ so that on their arrival they 
may be joined and completed in a short time. 
Nails are also being made for them, and the pitch, 
sailSj tow, oars, and other things which are neces- 
sary are being got ready. I assure Your Majesty 
that until I achieve this end, I shall take no rest, 
nor shall I cease to strive in every possible way 
and manner for it, disregarding all the danger and 
trouble, and cost, that may come upon me. 

History hardly records a greater tour de 
force than the construction, transport, and 
launching of these brigantines; the glory of the 
conception belongs to Cortes, but the credit for 
its execution was due to the Tlascalans. Martin 
Lopez was assisted by a few other Spaniards, 
but the brunt of the work, as well as the cost, 
was borne by the Tlascalans. 

Prescott recalls two instances of similar un- 
dertakings, but on a smaller scale and with 
less distance to cover; the first was during the 
siege of Taranto by Hannibal, and the second 
was at the same place seventeen centuries 
later under Gonsalvo de Cordoba. Balboa also 
built four small boats on the Isthmus of Darien, 
two of which he succeeded in carrying to the 
coast and launching successfully. For magni- 
tude of the undertaking, distance of transport, 
number of men engaged, with no beasts of 



A New Campaign 303 

burden to help tliem, and the importance of 
the issue at stake, the achievement of Cortes 
and the Tlascalans stands alone. 

On Wednesday the 26th of December, a 
grand review of all the forces was held. The 
army was found to consist of forty horsemen 
divided into four squadrons of ten each; five 
hundred and fifty foot-soldiers, divided into 
nine companies of sixtj^; there were eight or 
nine pieces of artillery, in all not a very 
numerous force with which to lay siege to the 
capital of the Aztec empire. Halting before 
his troops, Don Fernando addressed them in 
a short speech, of which he himself gave a 
summary to Charles V. : 

All being assembled for this review, I spoke to 
them as follows : They already knew that they 
and I had come to serve Your Sacred Majesty by 
settling in this country, and they likewise knew 
how all the natives of it had acknowledged them- 
selves as vassals of Your Majesty, and how they 
had persevered as such, receiving good deeds from 
us and we from them, until, without any cause, 
all the inhabitants of Culua including the people 
of the great city of Temixtitan and those of all 
the other provinces subject to it had revolted 
against Your Majesty; yet more, they had killed 
many of our relatives and friends, and had ex- 
pelled us from their country: that they should 
remember how many dangers and hardships we 
had endured, and how it was profitable to the 



304 Fernando Cortes 

service of God and of Your Catholic Majesty to 
return and recover what was left, inasmuch as we 
had just causes and good reasons on our side. One 
cause was because we fought for the spread of 
our Faith, and against barbarians; another was 
because we served Your Majesty; another was for 
the security of our lives; and another because we 
had many natives, our friends, to help us. All 
these were strong motives to stimulate our hearts; 
for the same reasons I told them to cheer up and 
be brave. In the name of Your Majesty, I had 
made certain ordinances for maintaining discipline 
and regulating the affairs of the war, which I then 
immediately published. I enjoined them to likewise 
comply with these, because by so doing, much serv- 
ice would be rendered to God and Your Majesty. 
They all promised to do so and to comply with 
them, declaring they would very gladly die for our 
Faith and Your Majesty's service, or return to re- 
cover the loss, and to revenge so great a treachery 
as had been done by the people of Temixtitan and 
their allies. In the name of Y^'our Majesty I 
thanked them for it. After this we returned to 
our camp on the day of the review, in good spirits. 
The following day, which was the feast of St. John 
the Evangelist, I had all the chiefs of the pro- 
vince of Tascaltecal assembled and told them that 
they already knew I was about to leave the next 
day to enter the country of our enemies; that they 
must see that the city of Temixtitan could not 
be captured without the brigantines which were 
being built, and that hence I prayed that they 
would furnish everything necessary to the work- 
men and the other Spaniards I left there, and 



A New Campaign 305 

would treat them well, as they had always treated 
us. I also said that they should be prepared, if 
God should give us the victory, whenever I should 
send from the city of Tasaico ^ for the joinings, 
planks, and other materials for the brigantines, to 
send them. They promised to do so, and they also 
wished to send some warriors with me at once, 
declaring that when the brigantines started they 
would go with all their people, for they wished 
to die where I died and to revenge themselves on 
the Culuans, their mortal enemies. 

These ordinances mentioned above were drawn 
up by " the magnificent Seilor Fernando Cortes, 
captain-general and chief justice of this New 
Spain of the Ocean Sea and published in the 
city and province of Tlascala on Wednesday, 
the feast of St. Stephen, the twenty-sixth day 
of December, in the presence of the notary 
public Juan de Ribera," etc. In the pre- 
amble were explained the necessity and con- 
venience of subjecting all human actions to 
law; the right of conquest was traced to the 
principles of religion, and the primary object 
of all must be to win the heathen natives from 
idolatry and procure their eternal salvation 
by converting them to the Christian religion. 
Were this war undertaken with any other in- 
tention it would be unjust, and everything won 
by it would have to be restored. 

In conformity with the crusading spirit pro- 

1 Meaning Texcoco. 



3o6 Fernando Cortes 

claimed in the preamble, the ordinances pro- 
hibited blasphemy against the name of God 
and the saints. Gambling was also discouraged 
by certain severe restrictions tending to so 
moderate play as to render it innocuous. Dice, 
however, were absolutely forbidden. Brawling, 
quarrelling, rivalries between different com- 
panies, and evil speaking, either among the 
soldiers themselves or against their officers, were 
not to be tolerated. The regulations governing 
military discipline and operations enjoined 
officers to keep to the posts assigned them 
and prohibited them under pain of death from 
charging the enemy without orders from the 
commander. Other articles prescribed that all 
booty taken, either in cities or on the battle- 
field, and of whatsoever character, must be de- 
livered either to the commander or to an officer 
designated to receive it.^ 

It is evident from the temper and language 
of these regulations that the military organisa- 
tion of the troops had made considerable strides 
since they first left Vera Cruz to march into 
the interior. Limits there undoubtedly were 
to the commander's authority, and there were 
occasions when his discretion tolerated a licence 
that his judgment reproved, but his policy was 
to unite the interests of all in the success of 

1 A more complete summary of these ordinances may be 
found in Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., p. 502, and a reprint of 
the entire document in Prescott's Conquest, Appendix xiii. 



A New Campaign 307 

their common undertaking and, by playing 
first on their religious sentiments, then on their 
pride as Spaniards, and last and always on 
their hopes of wealth, to enforce a discipline 
under which such bold spirits must have chafed. 
But if there were limits to his authority, there 
were likewise bounds to his forbearance, and 
while the former were vaguely defined, the 
latter were very positively outlined. Shortly 
after the promulgation of the ordinances of 
Tlascala, Cortes hanged two of his own slaves 
for robbing an Indian, and even a Spaniard 
received similar sentence for a like offence, 
though the commander discreetly turned his 
back while the fellow's companions loosened 
the knot before life was extinct. 

The allies promised for the campaign formed 
an important addition to the forces. Their 
number has been variously estimated at from 
one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifty 
thousand men. Alonso de Ojeda and Juan 
Marquez had devoted much attention to drilling 
the Tlascalans; born fighters, every man of 
them had profited, not only by this instruction 
but likewise by the experience gained in the 
several campaigns fought under Spanish di- 
rection. Even the distrustful General Xicoten- 
catl was not too proud to learn the art of war 
from the detested conquerors of his country, 
whose skill and courage commanded his reluctant 
admiration. 



3o8 Fernando Cortes 

On Friday, the twenty-eighth of December, 
the army marched out from Tlascala by way 
of Tetzmulocan, headed towards Texcoco. The 
most difficult of the three roads leading from 
Tlascala to the valley of Mexico had been chosen, 
after a council composed of all the captains, 
as it was hoped their choice would hardly be 
foreseen by the Mexicans and hence they would 
encounter no organised opposition. The com- 
pany was joined at Tlepehuacan by Ixtlilxo- 
chitl, prince of Texcoco and claimant of the 
crown. Ever since the Spaniards had been in 
Mexico, this discontented and ambitious in- 
triguer had paid diligent court to Don Fer- 
nando, hoping, with his support and patronage, 
to seat himself on the throne of Acolhuacan. 
The new ally was cordially welcomed, sym- 
pathised with in his grievances, and encouraged 
to regard the Spaniards as his saviours. What- 
ever Cortes may, in his heart, have thought of 
this renegade prince, he was bound to view 
with satisfaction, and encourage by all means 
in his power, the dissensions and animosities 
that divided and weakened his enemies. The 
descent of the mountain-pass was accomplished 
and on Sunday, the thirtieth, the Spaniards 
found themselves once more in the valley of 
Mexico. 

No troops came forth to dispute their advance, 
though on the surrounding hilltops fires blazed 
and columns of black smoke rose into the clear 



A New Campaign 309 

blue of the sky, thus giving notice to all the 
towns in the valley of their enemy's approach. 
Groups of Mexican warriors were seen in the 
distance, apparently following their movements, 
and Cortes, who anticipated an ambush or a 
sudden attack at any hour, took occasion to 
remind the men of his orders for all to keep 
well together, to avoid straggling and to in- 
stantly obey the commands of their of&cers. 
It was victory or death, and they must main- 
tain the reputation of Spanish valour. After 
this exhortation, to which all responded by 
promising obedience, they marched ahead, " as 
gaily as though bent on a pleasure party," to 
quote from the language of the Relaciones. 

Texcoco had been fixed upon as the temporary 
headquarters, from whence Cortes proposed to 
reconnoitre the situation and reduce the out- 
lying towns and villages along the lake shore, 
while waiting for the arrival of the brigantines, 
to begin operations against the capital. Al- 
though it was not expected that Texcoco would 
be occupied without severe fighting, a deputa- 
tion of nobles approached the Spanish force a 
few leagues outside their city, carrying a golden 
pennon,^ in sign of peace, and bringing a pres- 
ent from their King to the commander. They 
begged that their city might be spared, affirm- 

1 It was in the form of net-work or mesh of gold, and 
both Cortes and Bernal Diaz calculated its money value 
with the rapidity of practiced appraisers. 



3IO Fernando Cortes 

ing tliat they had never willingly sided against 
the Spaniards but only in obedience to the 
superior force of the Mexicans. Cortes, in re- 
ply, reminded them of the party of Spaniards 
they had recently murdered within their own 
territory and demanded the restitution of the 
treasure they had taken from their victims. 
Still protesting their innocence and declaring 
that it was by the Mexican Emperor's orders 
that the deed had been done and that the 
plunder had been taken to Mexico, they offered 
to collect what they could and restore it; mean- 
while, they suggested that the Spaniards should 
pass the night in the neighbouring village as 
they had not been able to prepare quarters for 
them in the city. Cortes ignored their sug- 
gestion and marched on to Texcoco where the 
first thing that impressed him was the deserted 
appearance of the streets, which he had always 
seen thronged with a busy population. The vast 
palace of Nezahualpilli and its extensive de- 
pendencies furnished ample quarters for all the 
force. The reason of the Texcocan's efforts to 
prevent him entering the city that evening, 
was quickly discovered by some of the soldiers, 
who ascended one of the teocaJU to survey tlie 
town and observed that the entire population 
was abandoning the place, — some in canoes on 
the lake, while others were escaping on foot to 
the hills. Coanacochtzin, the King, was already 
safe in Mexico and, as it was late in the eve- 



A New Campaign 311 

ning, the ejfforts made to check this movement 
were too tardy to be of any avail. The Span- 
iards were left in undisputed possession of the 
deserted capital of Acolhuacan. 



CHAPTER XIII 

BACK TO THE CAPITAL 

Destruction of Iztapalapan — Quauhtemotzin — First Ex- 
pedition of Chalco — Arrival of the Convoy — Fall of 
TIacopan — Death of Fonseca — Second Expedition to 
Chalco — Capture of Cuernavaca — Rescue of Cortes — 
Spanish Losses 

EIGtHT days passed after the arrival of the 
Spaniards in Texcoco, during which time 
they were exclusively occupied in fortifying the 
city, laying in provisions, and converting the 
place into a well-furnished base from which to 
conduct the campaign in the neighbourhood. 
Cortes had declared the throne of Acolhuacan 
vacant after the flight of Coanacochtzin and had 
ordered an election held that resulted in the 
elevation to the royal dignity, of Tecocoltzin, 
a bastard son of Nezahualpilli. This youth 
proved a weak tool in the hands of the Span- 
ish commander, and the government passed 
practically into the latter's exclusive control. 

The neighbouring towns and some tribes in 
the vicinity came, one by one, to offer their 
submission which Cortes received as a matter 
of course, assuring them that they were now 
vassals of Castile and were doing their duty 
in remaining faithful to their lawful sovereign. 

The city of Iztapalapan, where Cortes had 
312 



Back to the Capital 313 

once been entertained in the magnificent palace 
and gardens of its sovereign, was the first place 
designated for destruction, chiefly because it 
had belonged to Cuitlahuatzin, the arch-enemy of 
the Spaniards, and also because its inhabitants 
shared their ruler's hatred of the teules. Cor- 
tes led the expedition himself, having Pedro de 
Alvarado and Cristobal de Olid for his captains. 
The force consisted of eighteen horsemen, two 
hundred and thirty foot-soldiers, a large num- 
ber of Tlascalans, and some Indians of Texcoco, 
furnished by the young king, Tecocoltzin. 

Iztapalapan was utterly destroyed and six 
thousand of its inhabitants were killed, the re- 
mainder either saving themselves by flight in 
their canoes or being captured by the victors. 
An artful stratagem of the Indians that would 
have annihilated the SiDaniards had it succeeded, 
just missed being successful. As the town stood 
on the edge of the lake and even partly over 
the water, it was protected from the rising tides 
by a dyke, which the Spaniards had passed on 
their way into the city. Cortes had noticed an 
opening in this dyke, through which some water 
was running but, in the heat of the attack, had 
galloped ahead without attaching any signifi- 
cance to the fact. Towards nine o'clock at 
night, when the sack and destruction of the 
burning city were completed and his men were 
weary with slaughter, it suddenly flashed across 
his mind that with the rise of the salt lake, the 



314 Fernando Cortes 

waters would pour through the aperture in the 
dyke and cut off the Spaniards from the main- 
land. In short, they were taken in a trap and 
would drown to a man. His surmise was as 
correct as it was timely, for on reaching the 
place, that whole quarter was found to be al- 
ready flooded, while the water was rising so 
rapidly that the booty and prisoners had to be 
abandoned and each man made a dash for 
safety through the insidious flood. Several In- 
dians were drowned and the spoils of war were 
lost, but the Spaniards escaped the trap their 
cunning foes had set for their destruction.^ 

The news of the fall of Iztapalapan produced 
a great impression throughout the valley and 
was followed by the submission of several other 
dependencies of the capital. Cortes, in re- 
ceiving their adhesion, made it a condition that 
they should deliver up to him all Aztec nobles 
or persons of consequence who were in their 
towns, his object being to seek through such 
persons to open communications with the capi- 
tal and, if possible, to form inside its walls a 
party in favour of coming to terms with him. 
These overtures met with no response. Cuitla- 
huatzin had been succeeded by Quauhtemotzin, 
son of Ahuitzotl, a youth of twenty-five years, dis- 
tinguished both for his bravery and his intelli- 
gence. He was the eleventh and the last of the 
Aztec emperors. Montezuma's presumptive heir 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, ii., p. 18. 



Back to the Capital 315 

had perished during the retreat on the Sorrow- 
ful Night, and his two remaining legitimate 
sons were said to be paralytics. His daughter, 
Tecuichpo, married Cuitlahuatzin and, on the 
accession of Quauhtemotzin, the widow espoused 
her late husband's successor. One of the im- 
becile heirs having meanwhile died, the newly 
elected Emperor removed the possibility of any 
future complications by killing the survivor. 

Quauhtemotzin had followed the policy of his 
predecessor and had succeeded in gathering 
about his throne all the forces that remained 
faithful; while there were still waverers in the 
provinces, and many of the neighbouring states 
were maintaining an observant neutrality until 
events might show them on which side to range 
themselves, within the capital itself absolute 
unity prevailed. The messages from Cortes 
proposing peace, his offers to pardon the Mexi- 
cans, and his invitations to a friendly con- 
ference, all fell on deaf ears. Quauhtemotzin 
declared that the city would never surrender 
and that its last man would die fighting. 

On his return from Iztapalapan, Cortes sent 
an expedition under Sandoval to the province 
of Chalco, whose cacique had complained of the 
exactions and oppressions of a Mexican gar- 
rison stationed in his city and had invited the 
Spaniards to assist him in expelling it. From 
all sides similar complaints and proposals 
reached Cortes and, in writing to Charles V., 



3i6 Fernando Cortes 

he declared that one of his chief regrets was, 
that he could not respond to the demands made 
upon him by the Indian allies and faithful 
vassals of His Majesty. 

To make up for his inability to send Span- 
iards to the various centres of disaffection 
towards the Aztec rule, Cortes sought to over- 
come the local jealousies and ancient feuds that 
divided the tribes, and to form alliances be- 
tween them for their mutual defence against 
the Mexicans. In these efforts he was suc- 
cessful, — at least, sufficiently so for his own 
purpose. During his expedition to Chalco, 
Sandoval stopped in the little town of Zoltepec, 
the scene of the murder of the forty-five Span- 
iards, of which mention was made in a former 
chapter. Melancholy relics of their dead com- 
rades were found in the temj)les, even the heads 
of some of them, so well dried and tanned that 
their faces were easily recognisable, were ex- 
posed, while on the wall of a room in a build- 
ing close by, they read the inscription : " In 
this place was imprisoned the unhappy Juan 
Yuste and some of his companions." From 
Chalco, Sandoval continued his way to Tlas- 
cala, from whence he was to assist in escorting 
the Tlascalans, who were to transport the brig- 
antines to Texcoco. He was likewise charged 
to bring from Tlascala the young prince of Tex- 
coco, known as Don Fernando, whom Cortes 
designated to succeed the youth, Fernando Teco- 



Back to the Capital 317 

coltzin, whose death had just brouglit his brief 
reign to a close. Both of these princes having 
been baptised under the name of Fernando, mucli 
confusion has been occasioned by the early 
writers attributing the acts of the one to the 
other, and even merging the two into one 
person.^ 

Shortly after crossing the Tlascalan frontier, 
three of Sandoval's horsemen, who were riding 
ahead as scouts, detected the fires of what 
seemed to be a vast encampment. Approaching 
cautiously to reconnoitre, it was discovered to 
be the camp of the Spanish ship-carpenters and 
the Tlascalans, who had brought the brigantines 
that far on the road and were encamped to 
wait for their escort from Texcoco. Twenty 
thousand Indians composed the convoy which, 
after four days of arduous marching, reached 
Texcoco with their unique burdens. Their ar- 
rival was made the occasion of great festivity 
and rejoicing. Cortes and his officers rode out 
to meet the procession, which was of such im- 
posing length that six hours were occupied in 
filing before the commander into the city. 
Spaniards and Tlascalans fraternised, with 
demonstration of the heartiest good-will; the 

1 As if to further augment the complications arising 
from a number of Indian princes adopting the same Chris- 
tian name, Prince Ixtlilxochitl was at this time baptised 
and assumed the name of Fernando. He was placed in 
command of the Texcocan forces. 



3i8 Fernando Cortes 

shrill pipes and rude musical instruments of 
the Indians mingled their sounds with the 
music of atabal and cornet, while enthusiastic 
crowds rent the air with cheers of Castilla! 
Tlascala! Cortes, the destroyer of a fleet was 
the creator of another, for only his genius could 
have conceived and accomplished such an un- 
dertaking. The Tlascalan captains crowded 
about him, declaring that they had come to 
fight under his banner until their common 
quarrel was avenged or they fell together, and 
demanding to be led at once against their 
enemy. He responded cordially to these wel- 
come demonstrations and assured them that he 
would provide them with plenty to do as soon 
as they were rested.^ 

While the work of putting the brigantines to- 
gether was going actively forward in the canal 
that had been built to convey them onto the 
waters of the lake, Cortes planned a series of 
attacks on the towns in the neighbourhood that 
were still loyal to Quauhtemotzin. Marching 
in a northerly direction from Texcoco, the first 
engagements with the enemy were at an island- 
town in the lake, called Xaltocan. The re- 
sistance of the Mexicans was stubborn and the 
town was unapproachable, as the dyke had been 
cut and neither infantry nor horsemen could 
breast the swift current of water that rushed 

^Letters of Cortes, torn. 1., p. 32; Gomara, cap. cxxiv.; 
Bernal Diaz, cap. cxl. 



Back to the Capital 319 

through the opening. Treachery, however, de- 
livered the place to the Spaniards, for a 
Mexican deserter revealed the whereabouts of 
a shallow ford. Xaltocan was sacked and 
burned, while those of its inhabitants who had 
trusted to their defences instead of escaping in 
canoes were made prisoners. Continuing the 
circuitous line of march he had mapped out, 
Cortes passed through two abandoned towns and 
finally arrived at Azcapozalco, known as the 
" silversmith's town " on account of the artistic 
productions of its metal-workers. 

The objective point of this march was the 
town of Tlacopan or Tacuba where he intended 
to establish temporary headquarters. The fate 
of Tacuba was not long in the balance and, as 
the Tlascalans nourished a special hatred for 
the inhabitants because of the injuries suffered 
there by their countrymen the morning follow- 
ing the Sorrowful Night, Cortes was unable to 
hinder a general massacre that ended in setting 
fire to the town, after everything of value had 
been pillaged. From Tacuba, one of the three 
famous causeways led directly across the lake 
into the city of Mexico; the same one in fact 
along which the Spaniards had fled in panic 
and confusion when they evacuated the capital. 
The skirmishing along this causeway was kept 
up daily during the commander's stay at Ta- 
cuba and though the Mexicans fought well, 
both on the causeway itself and from their light 



320 Fernando Cortes 

canoes in which they approached the banks, the 
ultimate advantage invariably rested with the 
Christians. Renewed overtures for peace were 
rebuffed by the Mexicans and in reply to the in- 
vitation of Cortes that their chiefs would come 
to parley with him, the warriors answered that 
they were all chiefs and that whatever he wished 
to say, might be said to any or all of them. 

During the six days he remained in Tacuba, 
Cortes obtained much of the information con- 
cerning the defences of Mexico he had come to 
seek. He found the Aztec troops well equipped 
and full of courage; nor did the fact that they 
had been worsted day after day in their en- 
counters with the Spaniards seem to daunt 
them. Following the same road by which they 
had come, the Spaniards returned to Texcoco 
where the booty was divided, permission being 
given to the Tlascalans to depart to their own 
country with their share. 

The defection of the Chalcans from the Mex- 
ican cause greatly enraged Quauhtemotzin, who 
sent a force to invade their province and punish 
their treachery, and Bernal Diaz states that 
twenty thousand Mexican soldiers crossed the 
lake in two thousand canoes. The Chalcans ap- 
pealed in their extremity to Cortes, who again 
sent Sandoval to their assistance. During this 
campaign there occurred a break in the close 
intimacy existing between Cortes and his 
favourite captain, Gonzalo de Sandoval; the 



Back to the Capital 321 

latter having returned to Texcoco after an en- 
gagement at Ayacliapiehtla, which he consi(Jered 
decisive, was curtly ordered to go back and 
finish what he had begun. When he afterwards 
learned that he had been hasty and that the 
rebuke was unmerited, Cortes made such a 
frank and sincere apology for his injustice that 
the cloud which threatened to obscure their 
friendship was at once dispelled. Nothing, 
more than this little incident, illustrates the 
nature of the relations existing between Cortes 
and his oflcers, nor better shows the absence 
of petty vanity in the commander's character. 
His readiness to admit and repair a wrong done 
to a subordinate officer proved the quality of 
his moral courage and won him the confidence 
and obedience of his captains. 

Three vessels which arrived at Vera Cruz, 
very probably from Hispaniola in response to the 
letters of Cortes to the audiencia in that island, 
brought the considerable reinforcement of two 
hundred men, seventy or eighty horsemen, and 
a large supply of arms, ammunitions, and mili- 
tary stores. Simultaneously there came into 
the same port a ship from Castile, having on 
board several persons of distinction, amongst 
w^hom were the royal treasurer, Julian de Al- 
derete and a Dominican friar, Pedro Melgarejo 
de Urrea. A facetious passage in Bernal Diaz's 
hi'story of the conquest describes this monk as 
bringing bulls from the Pope granting indul- 



322 Fernando Cortes 

gences to the men, and states that he did such a 
thriving trade in his holy wares that within a 
few months he returned to Castile a rich man. 
The bulls in question were chiefly useful in 
guaranteeing lawful title to holders of property 
acquired during the conquest, whose rightful 
owners it was no longer possible to identify. 
The spoils of war captured in the sacking of 
towns did not fall within the terms of the bulls, 
though it is not improbable that there were 
soldiers whose elastic consciences enabled them 
to stretch the papal concession to suit their 
interests.^ 

Bernal Diaz's quip has furnished material for 
caustic comment on the business-like methods 
of the Dominicans in dispensing spiritual 
favours to the faithful. Alleged abuses of a 
similar nature in Germany were at that very 
time one of the chief reproaches cast on the 
Order in Europe, where the Reformation was 
just then convulsing Christendom. 

The most welcome intelligence for Cortes that 
arrived by the ship from Spain was the news 
of the fall from power of the Bishop of Burgos^ 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cxliii.; Orozco y Berra, torn, iv,, p. 
537. 

2 Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, Bishop of Burgos and 
titular Archbishop of Rosano, was of noble family and, 
when dean of Seville, had been named by King Ferdinand 
to the presidency of the newly constituted Royal Council 
for the Indies, which had charge of the affairs of the 
recently discovered realms in the New World. This ap- 



Back to the Capital 323 

The province of Chalco continued, despite the 
two successful expeditions of Sandoval, to be 
the scene of constant hostilities between Chal- 
cans and Mexicans, and, as it was impossible 
to begin the siege of the capital before the sur- 
rounding country was freed from Aztec domin- 
ion and made safe for the Spaniards and their 
allies, Cortes determined to respond to the last 
appeal of the Chalcan chiefs for assistance, by 
marching thither himself. His intention was 
also to extend his operations by circling com- 
pletely round the lakes and, in the course of 
his march, to occupy all the more important 
strongholds and disperse their Aztec garrisons. 
He had already secured such a result in the 
w^estern parts of the valley, and once he suc- 
ceeded in establishing his supremacy towards 
the south, the city of Mexico would remain iso- 
lated, in the midst of a broad zone under Span- 
ish control. Two or three weeks were to be 
devoted to these preparatory operations, within 
which period it was hoped that the brigantines 

pointment was singularly unfortunate, as he possessed 
no aptitude for the post, and, being of choleric temper, 
touchy, vindictive, and given to favouritism, he seems 
never to have grasped the possibilities of his office, or to 
have comprehended the meaning of the events whose 
course he was called upon to shape. The Emperor's eyes 
were finally opened to his incurable defects of character, 
and his influence received its death-blow from the trans- 
actions of his agents with Cortes. He died March 14, 
1524, having done his worst during thirty years with the 
interests confided to his direction. 



324 Fernando Cortes 

would be completed and ready for use. The 
force to be employed was composed of thirty 
horsemen and three hundred foot-soldiers, with 
the usual complement of numerous Indians 
from Tlascala and Texcoco. 

Gonzalo de Sandoval was left in command at 
Texcoco, with a force of twenty horsemen and 
three hundred foot-soldiers. The following day 
Cortes addressed the chiefs in a speech that 
was interpreted by Marina and Geronimo de 
Aguilar, telling them that the hour for united 
action against the capital was drawing near and 
that he would soon call upon them for the levies 
they had promised. He outlined the purpose 
of his present movement and then marched on 
to the town of Chimalhuacan-Chalco, where he 
intended to pass the night. An immense num- 
ber of Indians, — some forty thousand in all, — 
joined his force, in addition to whom, a myriad 
of spoilers followed the army, attracted chiefly 
by the prospect of feeding on the dead bodies 
of the slain. 

Sharp fighting took place in the country be- 
tween Chalco and Huaxtepec, notably in the at- 
tempts to storm two rocky knolls on which large 
numbers of Indians had established themselves. 
In one of these attacks, the Spaniards were re- 
pulsed and obliged to withdraw, leaving the 
defenders victorious, but when the second 
stronghold was captured, all the neighbourhood, 
including the unconquered people on the first 



Back to the Capital 325 

hillock, submitted and made the usual terms of 
peace. From Huaxtepec, the road lay through 
Yauhtepec, where the inhabitants sought safety 
in the neighbouring town of Xiuhtepec. The 
latter town offered no resistance, and the 
troops rested there that day (Friday, the 
12th) expecting the local caciques to return 
and make their submission. As none appeared, 
however, the town was looted and burned. 

On the following day Cortes arrived before 
Cuauhnahuac (the present Cuernavaca) ^ the 
ancient capital of the Tlahuica tribes, situated 
on an isolated promontory at an elevation of 
more than five thousand feet and surrounded, 
save on one side, by a narrow but profound 
caiion. This town was, from its peculiar posi- 
tion, almost inaccessible; the bridges over the 
chasm had been broken and the place w^as de- 
fended by a strong garrison under Coatzin, its 
lord. Its capture was due to the intelligence 
and bravery of a Tlascalan warrior, whose 
remarkable exploit is hardly noticed by Cortes 
in his letter to the Emperor, but which is de- 
scribed by Bernal Diaz who claims to have 
followed close on the heels of the intrepid war- 
rior. Two immense trees growing on opposite 

1 Cuernavaca is the present capital of the state of 
Morelos, and is one of the most beautiful and interesting 
towns in Mexico, while its situation is hardly excelled 
in picturesqueness and grandeur by any other in the 
world. The palace and church, which Cortes afterwards 
built there, still stand. 



326 Fernando Cortes 

sides of the ravine, inclined towards one an- 
other until their branches met. The bold 
Tlascalan conceived the plan of crossing by 
this aerial bridge, and, with an agility worthy 
of his daring conception, he safely passed on 
the swaying boughs over the dizzy height and 
slid down the tree trunk on the other side, 
while the garrison of Cuernavaca was fighting 
elsewhere and unobservant of his achievement. 
About thirty Spaniards and a number of Tlas- 
calans followed his example, three of whom lost 
their balance and fell into the stream below. 
Bernal Diaz says that it was a frightful un- 
dertaking, and that he himself became quite 
blind and giddy from the great height and 
danger. Indeed, it w^as no small thing for a 
man, weighted with arms and armour, to essay 
such a feat, and if the credit of the invention 
belongs to the Tlascalan, we cannot withhold 
our admiration from the thirty Spaniards who 
had the hardihood to follow him.^ 

After destroying the captured town and re- 
ceiving the submission of its chiefs, Cortes re- 
traced his march towards the valley of Mexico, 
crossing the rocky sierra and traversing a 
waterless region of pine woods, with such suf- 
fering to man and beast that some people even 
perished of thirst. Shortly after daybreak on 
Monday, the 15th, the Spaniards came in 
sight of one of the most beautiful and pros- 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cxliv. 



Back to the Capital 327 

perous towns of Mexico, — Xochimilco, — aptly 
described by its Aztec name, meaning " field of 
flowers." As the town stood somewhat out in 
the waters of the lake, the approach was by 
means of a causeway, similar to but smaller 
than those which connected the city of Mexico 
with the mainland. The Xochimilcans had 
fortified this causeway and defended the en- 
trance with great spirit, but before the fire of 
the archers and arquebusiers, they were forced 
to give way and to retreat into the better se- 
curity of their streets. With the hope of gain- 
ing time in which their families might escape 
by means of canoes, the Indians began parley- 
ing for peace; moreover, towards evening, a 
formidable body of well-armed Mexican troops 
came to their assistance, and the fighting was 
renewed. While leading a calvary charge, the 
horse on which Cortes was mounted slipped and 
fell, unseating its rider. In an instant his 
enemies were upon him. Neither in wit nor 
courage were the Tlascalans ever found want- 
ing, and in this instance, it was a Tlascalan 
who first perceived the commander's peril and 
rushed to his assistance. Cortes afterwards 
searched in vain for this Indian who saved his 
life, but as he could never be found, dead or 
alive, he finally declared that he was per- 
suaded that it was not an Indian at all but 
his holy patron, St. Peter, who had rescued 
him. 



328 Fernando Cortes 

Clavigero pertinently notes that, in this 
battle as in many others, the Indians might 
easily have killed Cortes had they not determined 
to take him alive and sacrifice him. Bernal Diaz 
attributes the rescue of Cortes to a Castilian 
soldier, Cristobal de Olea, who led a body of 
Tlascalans to his relief, but makes no mention 
of any one particular Tlascalan. Cortes may, 
however, be supposed to know better, and he 
refers to Olea as " a servant of mine who helped 
raise the horse." Olea received three frightful 
wounds from the deadly maquahuitl, a weapon 
which the Mexicans wielded with great and 
formidable skill. 

The fighting in, and around Xochimilco, 
lasted from the 15th of April until the morn- 
ing of Friday the 20th, when the Spaniards 
arrived in Tlacopan and, though Cortes says 
little in his reports about the events of those 
days, his men suffered considerably. While a 
small division was engaged in pillaging some 
storehouses near Xochimilco, the Mexicans at- 
tacked them, wounding a number and taking 
Juan de Lara, Alonso Hernandez, and two 
other soldiers of Andres de Monjaraz's company, 
prisoners. These men were carried in triumph 
to the city of Mexico where, after being ques- 
tioned by Quauhtemotzin, they were sacrificed, 
their arms and legs being afterwards taken to 
be exhibited in the neighbouring provinces as 
a forecast of the fate awaiting the remainder 



Back to the Capital 329 

of the white men.^ Cortes wished to abandon 
the spoils taken at Xochimilco, rather than be 
cumbered with them, but yielded to the clamours 
of his men, who declared they were able to 
defend what they had taken. 

The plunder was therefore placed in the 
centre, with a guard of cavalry to watch over 
it and, after firing the city as a penalty for the 
obstinate resistance of its inmates, the Span- 
iards marched by way of Coyohuacan to Tacuba. 
Numerous bodies of the enemy were frequently 
descried, usually at a distance, and it was evi- 
dent that Quauhtemotzin was following the 
movements of his foe and that the entire coun- 
try was under arms. From Coyohuacan, where 
a two days' halt was made to care for the 
wounded and gain some rest after the fatigues 
of the recent fighting, Cortes reconnoitred the 
causeway leading to Iztapalapan. At the junc- 
tions of the two causeways stood the small 
fortress of Xoloc, that barred the road to the 
capital. 

Small skirmishes marked the day's advance 
to Tacuba, in one of which two more Spaniards, 
Francisco Martin Vendabal and Pedro Gallego, 
were captured alive. These two men were per- 
sonal servants of Cortes, who had accompanied 
him throughout the perils and hardships of the 
campaign and on whose fidelity he could always 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cxiv. ; Herrera, Hist General., dec. 
iii., lib. i., cap. viii. 



330 Fernando Cortes 

count. The commander made a rare display of 
feeling on this occasion which led to the com- 
position of a romance or ballad, long in popular 
vogue : 

En Tacuba estk Cortes 
Con su escuadron esforzado, 
Triste estaba y muy penoso, 
Triste y con gran cuidado, 
La una mano en la mejilla 
Y la otra en el costado, etc.^ 

Standing on a lofty teocalli in Tacuba, a group 
of the leaders, including Julian de Alderete 
and Fray Pedro Melgarejo, surveyed the valley, 
with the great capital floating on the waters 
of its lake; and one, Alonzo Perez, noting the 
pensive sadness of the commander's mien, begged 
him not to feel dejected, since losses and de- 
struction were incident to warfare, but that of 
him it could never be said that like Nero he 
had watched the burning city, quoting the 
couplet : 

1 Prescott gives the following accurate and acceptable 
English rendering of these verses: 

In Tacuba stood Cortes, 

With many a care opprest, 

Thoughts of the past came o'er him, 

And he bowed his haughty crest. 

One hand on his cheek he laid, 

The other on his breast, 

While his valiant squadrons round him, etc. 



Back to the Capital 331 

Mira Nero de Tarpeya 

A Roma como se ardia, etc.^ 

Cortes answered, calling his companions to wit- 
ness liow often he had begged the Mexicans to 
make peace and save themselves, adding that 
his sadness was not for any one cause alone, 
but from thinking of all the hardships still to 
be endured in reconquering the city, which, with 
God's help, they must now undertake. 

1 Nero, from the Tarpeian rock, 
Watched while Rome was burning, etc. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE SIEGE OF THE IMPERIAL CITY 

Action of the Audiencia — Conspiracy of Villafana — 
Launching the Brigantines — Division of the Forces 
— Fate of Xicotencatl — The Aqueduct — The Siege — 
First Naval Engagement — First Assault 

WHILE Cortes was occupied as described 
in the last chapter, in preparing to lay 
active siege to the Aztec capital, events de- 
stined to exert an influence on his future were 
happening in Spain and in the Islands. 

Information of the defeat and imprisonment 
of Narvaez and the enrolment of his men un- 
der the standard of Cortes had finally reached 
Cuba, tardily indeed, because no ships had been 
allowed to leave Vera Cruz. Diego Velasquez, 
in the first heat of his rage against Cortes, pre- 
pared a fleet of seven or eight vessels, of which 
he himself took command, to sail for Mexico 
and reduce the rebel to obedience. Arrived 
within sight of the coast of Yucatan, more 
prudent, if less valiant counsels prevailed, and 
the irate governor preferred to return and 
nurse his outraged dignity in Cuba, rather than 
risk an encounter with his formidable enemy on 
Mexican soil. In addition to the cost of this 
fruitless demonstration, Diego Velasquez had 

332 



The Siege of the Imperial City 333 

to bear the ridicule provoked by its failure. It 
will be remembered that the fleet of Narvaez 
had sailed from Hispaniola, in defiance of the 
positive prohibition of the royal audiencia's 
delegate. Ayllon, who accompanied it to Vera 
Cruz in the hope of restraining Narvaez's im- 
petuosity and preventing acts of violence, had 
been seized by the commander and bundled back 
to Hispaniola. The audiencia did not meekly 
tolerate such contempt of its authority and the 
viceroy, Don Diego Columbus, appointed Alonzo 
Zuazo, juez de residencia, to proceed to Cuba 
and institute proceedings against the governor. 
Diego Velasquez and his partisans denied the 
authority of the viceroy to exercise such juris- 
diction in Cuba and appealed the case to the 
mother country. Manuel de Rojas, a relative 
of Velasquez, conducted the affair in Spain 
and, with the support of the Bishop of Burgos, 
succeeded in staying further proceedings against 
Velasquez and Narvaez. The Bishop obtained 
from Cardinal Adrian, who was regent of the 
kingdom during the Emperor's absence, the ap- 
pointment of Cristobal de Tapia to investigate 
all questions in dispute between Diego Velasquez 
and Cortes. He was given full powers to im- 
prison those he judged to be culpable, to con- 
fiscate their property, and to refer the final 
judgment to the royal tribunals; the colonial 
authorities were instructed to grant him every 
assistance in carrying out his mission. Cris- 



334 Fernando Cortes 

tobal de Tapia was the inspector of the royal 
foundries in Santo Domingo, a reputable man 
but totally incompetent to deal with Cortes. 
Both in Spain and Santo Domingo, those who 
understood the importance of what was hap- 
pening in Mexico, opposed these measures of 
the Bishop, and when the authorisation of the 
regent was delivered to Tapia in Santo Do- 
mingo, the viceroy and others persuaded him 
to await the outcome of the operations Cortes 
was conducting in Mexico, rather than bring 
ruin upon him and possibly lose the country by 
interfering at such a critical moment.^ 

Though ignorant of the menace to his suc- 
cess that was being prepared by his foe at a 
distance, Cortes was met on his arrival in Tex- 
coco at the conclusion of his march around the 
valley, by revelations of a design on his life 
amongst his own men. The Narvaez men had 
been shamed and laughed out of their plan to 
desert at Tlascala, but, in spite of the victories 
that had since attended all their commander's 
operations, their hearts were not with him, nor 
did their distrust of his seemingly wild and 
reckless scheme of conquest, yield place to con- 
fidence. One of these men, by name Villafana, 
formed a conspiracy to kill Cortes, Sandoval, 
Olid, Alvarado, and several other of his prin- 
cipal officers, and he had worked out his plot 
in such detail, that the successors of the com- 

1 Orozco y Berra, torn, iv., p. 558. 



The Siege of the Imperial City . 335 

manders to be slain, were already designated. 
A packet was to be given to Cortes, when he 
was seated at table with his of&cers in their 
quarters, and while he was engaged in opening 
the papers, the conspirators were to fall upon 
them and despatch them. 

Whether too many men were involved in this 
plot, or too much time was allowed to elapse 
between its conception and its execution, is not 
clear; in any case, one of the men privy to it 
repented, and the day previous to the one fixed 
for carrying it out, he revealed everything to the 
commander. Calling his officers together, Cor- 
tes related what he had just heard, and then 
going all together to the quarters of Villafana, 
they surprised him there in conference with sev- 
eral confederates. Realising that he was dis- 
covered, the traitor attempted to destroy a slip 
of paper that lay on the table, but Cortes was 
too quick for him and in glancing down the 
list of names written on it, he was much sur- 
prised and pained to find some whom he had con- 
sidered his faithful friends inscribed amongst 
his would-be assassins. Villafana was tried, 
found guilty, and after having confessed and 
received absolution was hanged, all with 
such military promptness that his dead body, 
swinging over the doorway of his quarters, was 
the first intimation to his confederates that the 
conspiracy had been discovered. Anxious in- 
deed, and expectant of a similar fate were the 



336 Fernando Cortes 

guilty ones; they were destined, however, to 
profit by a wisdom they failed to comprehend, 
for Cortes decided that the death of Villafana 
was sufficient to strike terror into the others and 
to prevent a repetition of such infamy. He 
spoke to his men, explaining the reason for 
their comrade's execution, saying that Villa- 
faiia had swallowed the paper containing the 
list of his accomplices whose names were there- 
fore unknown : he begged that if any one had 
cause for complaint against him, he should dis- 
close it, for he would do all in his power to 
satisfy him. Self-congratulation on their es- 
cape from sharing the fate of Villafana smoth- 
ered all desire in the breasts of the malcontents 
to expose any grievances, real or imaginary, in 
response to this invitation. 

The most important consequence of this 
conspiracy was the formation of a body- 
guard composed of twelve men, commanded by 
Antonio de Quiiaones, that henceforth accom- 
panied the commander. As for the traitors, 
whose names were known to him, Cortes never 
allowed his knowledge to appear, though he 
was careful never again to place these men 
in positions where they might work him mis- 
chief. 

•• For weeks, the natives in the neighbouring 
villages had been diligently at work making 
arrows, lances, and other munitions of war, — • 
thousands of each kind of weapon being pre- 



The Siege of the Imperial City 337 

pared; and now the brigantines were completed 
and lay in the canal, ready to be launched. 
Eight thousand men had laboured on the con- 
struction of the first fleet ever built and launched 
in American waters. Sunday the twenty-eighth 
of April having been fixed for the ceremony of 
launching the new vessels, all the Spaniards, 
officers, and men, confessed and received the 
Holy Communion, in preparation for the im- 
portant event.) Near the shore of the lake, 
an altar had been erected, decorated with what 
splendour their resources furnished, for the 
celebration by Fray Bartolome de Olmedo of 
the mass of the Holy Ghost. After a sermon 
on the significance of the event about to take 
place and the object all must have in view in 
carrying on the war, the boats were solemnly 
blessed and, the ropes being loosed, one by one 
the little crafts glided from the waters of the 
canal onto the bosom of the lake. Each in its 
turn unfurled its flag to the wind and fired a 
salute, to which the Spaniards and Indians as- 
sembled on the shore responded with cheers, 
sound of music, and salvos of artillery. The 
celebration of the happily accomplished launch- 
ing terminated with the singing of Te Deum 
Laudamus.^ Of all the incidents of the life of 
Cortes in Mexico, the launching of these little 

1 Motolinia, Hist, de los Indios in Icazbalceta, pars i., 
cap, i.; Letters of Cortes, torn, ii., p. 58; Herrera, dec. 
iii., lib. i., cap. vi. 



338 Fernando Cortes 

brigantines is tlie one at which all Christendom 
might most desire to have assisted. 

A review of the forces which was then held, 
showed them to number eighty-seven horsemen,' 
eight hundred and eighteen foot, including one 
hundred and eighteen arquebusiers and cross- 
bowmen. There were eighteen large guns, of 
which three were heavy field-pieces, and the 
other fifteen, brass falconets. The supply of 
ammunition was ample and, in addition to the 
shot, powder, and balls, there were some fifty 
thousand lances, tipped with copper points, 
which the Indians had made from a model fur- 
nished them by Cortes. In response to his 
summons, the Indian allies began to pour into 
Texcoco ; fifty thousand of the best fighting men ■ 
of Tlascala, well armed and making a brilliant 
show, were commanded by their young general 
Xicotencatl. The auxiliaries furnished by other 
tribes and provinces were ordered to assemble 
in Chalco, as they would be employed during 
the siege on the southern side of the city. 

The division of the forces was very carefully 
planned by Cortes: two of the three divisions 
were to have their permanent base at the ex- 
tremity of different causeways from whence at- 
tacks on the city could be made in unison. 
Pedro de Alvarado, in command of thirty horse- 
men, one hundred and sixty-eight Spanish foot- 
soldiers, and twenty-five thousand allies was 
stationed in Tacuba. Cristobal de Olid's base 



The Siege of the Imperial City 339 

was in Coyohuacan where, with thirty horse- 
men, one hundred and seventy-eight foot-soldiers, 
and twenty thousand Indians he held the great 
causeway leading to the fortress of Xoloc and 
the capital. The third division was commanded 
by Gonsalvo de Sandoval, and consisted of 
twenty-four horsemen, one hundred and sixty- 
nine foot-soldiers, and more than thirty thou- 
sand Indians from Tlascala, Cholula, and 
Chalco. Sandoval was to go first to Iztapala- 
pan and, after completing the destruction of 
that place, was to join the camp of Olid at 
Coyohuacan, his ultimate movements to depend 
on the later orders he would receive from Cortes. 
The thirteen brigantines, — or rather twelve, 
for one was found to be defective, — with Cortes 
in command, were manned by three hundred 
men. Although a number of men of the ex- 
pedition had been sailors and fishermen and 
consequently knew something about handling 
boats, none of them wanted to act as rowers 
for the brigantines, and it was with difficulty 
that the crews were completed. Many of the 
natives of Palos, Triana, and other seaports, 
who were ordered to take the oars, even objected 
on the score of their gentle birth, but the com- 
mander enforced his orders in spite of all ex- 
cuses and protests. Each brigantine displayed 
the royal standard as well as its own particular 
ensign, and carried a falconet. Before despatch- 
ing the divisions to their several destinations, 



340 Fernando Cortes 

Cortes made a stirring address to the united 
forces, reminding tliem of the extraordinary 
good fortune that had recently sent them re- 
inforcements, arms, ammunition, and repeated 
victories, even beyond their most sanguine hopes ; 
these were all so many proofs of divine protec- 
tion, for they were fighting in a holy cause, — 
for the spread of the Faith and the extension of 
the dominions of the Catholic sovereigns of 
Spain. There was, therefore, every reason for 
confidence and rejoicing, — they must conquer 
or they must die.^ 

These sentiments found a ready echo in the 
hearts of his hearers, who burst forth into ac- 
clamations and protests of fidelity. The veter- 
ans of the little band had weathered the severest 
trials and could honestly view with satisfaction 
their present condition as the best they had 
known since they landed in Mexico; never be- 
fore had there been such a force, such artillery 
and ammunition, so many allies and horses and, 
most of all, a fleet. The lukewarm men of the 
Narvaez group, repentant, doubtless, of their 
recent treachery and thankful for their escape 
from sharing Villafaiia's fate, counted on oppor- 
tunities of making good their fault by deeds of 
heroism, while all, whether they would or not, 
were whipped on by the obvious truth of their 
leader's reminder, that it was " conquer or die." 

Cortes makes no mention in his report to the 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, ii., p. 59. 



The Siege of the Imperial City 341 

Emperor, of an incident of bad augury that 
occurred just at this time. This was the de- 
sertion of the Tlascalan general, Xicotencatl, 
who left the army accompanied by a few fol- 
lowers, and returned to Tlascala. Various 
reasons are given for his action; Bernal Diaz 
attributes it to jealousy of Chichimecatl and a 
perfidious plan to get possession of his lands 
while the latter was absent, fighting against 
Mexico. Herrera ascribes his desire to return 
home, to a love affair.^ It seems, however, that 
there had been a quarrel between a Spanish 
soldier and a Tlascalan chief, in which the latter 
was badly wounded; the matter was hushed up, 
so that Cortes should not hear of it, as he was 
very strict in such matters; thus the soldier re- 
mained unpunished and, as Xicotencatl was a 
relative of the wounded chief, he left.^ 

Cortes first sent some Tlascalans to seek to 
induce him to return and, this failing, he de- 
spatched some Spanish horsemen with orders to 
arrest the general and bring him back. He 
simultaneously sent news of the affair to the 
senate of Tlascala, informing the senators that 
amongst Spaniards, desertion was punishable 
by death. The versions of XicotencatFs end do 
not agree. Herrera describes his death by hang- 
ing in public at Texcoco, while Bernal Diaz 
says he was executed where he was captured. 

1 Lib. i., cap. xvii. 

2 Prescott, lib. vi., cap. iv. 



342 Fernando Cortes 

Xicotencatl had always mistrusted the Span- 
iards nor could the blandishments of Cortes, 
nor the popular sentiment in Tlascala ever 
change his opinion. He was opposed to the al- 
liance and, after fighting the Spaniards in the 
field, he continued to oppose them in the coun- 
cils of his people. Cortes was aware of his 
sentiments and conscious of the bad effect such 
an example of desertion would have if left un- 
punished; it is also likely he was glad to be 
rid of an ally on whose fidelity he could not 
count. Xicotencatl's act of desertion was in- 
defensible and its penalty, according to the code 
of Tlascala, was death. 

In addition to the forces named, the Mexican 
historian Ixtlilxochitl enumerates allies from 
Itzocan, Tepeaca, Otumpa, Tollantzinco, Xilol- 
tepec, and other provinces, that bring the sum 
total up to two hundred thousand fighting men ; 
fifty thousand workmen were ready for road- 
making, bridge-building, repairing arms, and 
supplying new ones ; of camp servants there were 
numbers in proportion to the needs of this vast 
army, so that, all told, the Indian forces led by"^ 
Cortes against Quauhtemotzin fell little short 
of three hundred thousand men.^ 

On the twenty-second of May, the divisions of 

1 Ixtlilxochitl, Relacion, p. 20. These numbers are 
greatly reduced by other writers; as has been already 
noted, all such estimates are not based on actual counting 
and must be taken as expressing the idea of multitude. 



The Siege of the Imperial City 343 

Alvarado and Olid marched out of Texcoco to 
take up their respective positions, and after two 
days occupied in their march through deserted 
towns where no opposition was offered, the 
siege of the Mexico-Tenochititlan may be dated 
from the twenty-fifth day of May, when these 
two divisions arrived in Tacuba where Alvarado 
and his force were to remain. The two cap- 
tains were not friends; at Acolman, where the 
first night out from Texcoco had been passed, 
a squabble had arisen over the selection of 
houses in the town for their respective quarters, 
that was only prevented from ending in blood- 
shed by the intervention of Fray Pedro Mel- 
garejo and Luis Marin, who were despatched, 
as soon as Cortes heard of the quarrel, with 
instructions to pacify the litigants. 

The first blow struck at the city, was to cuf^ 
off its water supply by destroying the conduits 
that carried the water from Chapultepec into 
the capital. The Mexicans, realising the im- 
portance of the aqueduct, had foreseen that it 
would be attacked and had prepared for its 
defence. Immediately after mass, which was 
said by the chaplain, Juan Diaz, both captains 
led an attack on the aqueduct; the engagement 
was a sharp one, but the Spaniards were vic- 
torious and succeeded in breaking the conduit 

Alaman, Disertacion, i., estimates a total of 150,000 allies 
and Cortes himself mentions 50,000 Tlascalans, but no 
others. 



344 Fernando Cortes * 

whicli was built of stone, mortar, and wood; 
three Spaniards were wounded and a number of 
Indian allies were killed. After some further 
fighting the next day, Olid proceeded to his de- 
signated headquarters at Coyohuacan some two 
leagues distant from Tacuba, so that the two 
commanders could henceforward co-operate with 
one another in their operations against the 
enemy. 

On the thirty-first of May, Gonzalo de Sando- 
val left Mexico and marched to Iztapalapan, 
passing through Chalco, where his force was 
joined by large bodies of Indian allies, who 
were there awaiting him. The three divisions 
having taken their designated places, Cortes 
embarked on his flagship, and the little fleet 
moved slowly out of the harbour of Texcoco, 
headed for Iztapalapan, where it was part of 
his plan to assist Sandoval. Signal fires on the 
neighbouring hills sent their columns of smoke 
towards the sky and, being repeated from one 
point to another, the entire valley was promptly 
informed of the Spanish commander's move- 
ments. As the brigantines neared the rocky 
island of Tepepolco,^ the Aztec garrison let fly 
a volley of arrows and raised cries of defiance; 
not wishing to leave this fortified stronghold of 
his enemies behind him, Cortes landed one hun- 
dred and fifty men who, after a fierce contest, 

1 Afterwards the property of Cortes and called Penol 
del Marques. 



'' The Siege of the Imperial City 345 

succeeded in reaching the rocky summit. Every 
man of the garrison died at his post, only the 
women and children being spared. " But it was 
a beautiful victory," wrote Cortes in his third 
letter of relation to Charles V. Meanwhile, in 
response to the signals of alarm, fifteen hun- 
dred canoes, filled with warriors, had come out 
from the canals of the capital and were seen ad- 
vancing towards the brigantines. Cortes ordered 
his ships to remain perfectly quiet; he was 
anxious that the first encounter with the enemy's 
boats should be decisive in establishing his su- 
premacy on the lake. This inactivity mystified 
the Indians whose canoes, after approaching to 
within a short distance of the brigantines, also 
stopped, and the men of the rival fieets regarded 
one another for a short space, in silence. 

Again, as Cortes predicted, "Fortune favoured 
the daring," for a land wind suddenly sprang 
up astern of the brigantines, whose quickly-set 
sails swelled with the freshening breeze, bearing 
them with impetuous force into the very midst 
of the Mexican canoes. The frail craft were 
smashed to splinters, overturned and sunk by 
the superior size and weight of the Spanish 
boats, from whose decks a rapid fire of mus- 
ketry and the discharge of the falconets created 
terrible havoc among the wreckage of boats and 
the drowning Aztecs. The few who managed 
to escape the general destruction were pursued 
for a distance of three leagues, until they took 



346 Fernando Cortes 

refuge in the canals of the city, where the brig- 
antines were unable to penetrate. The opera- 
tions on the water being plainly visible to the 
Spanish garrison at Coyohuacan, Cristobal de 
Olid took advantage of the confusion that had 
overtaken the enemy, to march his entire force 
out onto the causeway leading to the capital 
and, in spite of the determined resistance of the 
Mexican troops, he managed to capture several 
bridges and to kill and scatter their defenders. 
Night was falling when the brigan tines anchored 
off the little fortress of Xolo'c that stood, as has 
been said, at the point where the causeway ; 
leading to Coyohuacan joined the main road 
to Iztapalapan. 

The strategic value of the position at once 
struck Cortes, who changed his original plan, 
which was to use Coyohuacan as the station for 
his fleet, and decided then and there to make 
Xoloc his headquarters; the anchorage for the 
ships was good and the roads were open to both 
Iztapalapan and Coyohuacan, while just before 
him lay the city. The fortress being small, its 
Aztec garrison was not numerous and was dis- 
lodged with little difficulty. The heavy guns 
were so mounted as to command the causeway 
leading into Mexico, half a league distant, while 
the brigantines prevented the enemy's approach 
in canoes. Orders were sent to Olid to advance 
with one half of his force to Xoloc, while San- 
doval was instructed to abandon Iztapalapan, 



The Siege of the Imperial City 347 

now practically destroyed, and, after sending 
fifty of his men to reinforce tlie camp on the 
causeway, to proceed with the remainder to the 
garrison in Coyohuacan. Thus Cortes proceeded 
to lay siege to Mexico-Tenochtitlan. 

The fortifications of Xoloc were improved and 
strengthened, a channel was dug across the 
causeway to allow the brigantines to pass 
through to the other side and, after five or six 
days of incessant fighting, by day and night, 
the great southern and western causeways were 
in absolute possession of the Spaniards. The 
northern causeway, leading to Tepeyaca, was still 
open, affording facilities for provisioning the 
city or of escaping from it, were the Mexicans 
so inclined. Gonzalo de Sandoval was sent to 
occupy a position on that avenue of approach, 
after which the isolation of the capital became 
complete, save for the coming and going of 
the swift canoes which, in spite of the activity 
and vigilance of the brigantines, frequently 
managed to escape capture. 

Sunday, the ninth of June, was fixed for the"^ 
first general assault on the city, by the united 
forces of Spaniards and allies, sustained by the 
fleet. Mass was said at an early hour, and from 
each of the three positions the attacking forces 
advanced along the causeway. The column led 
by Cortes found the bridges spanning the ditches 
that divided the causeway at intervals destroyed, 
and at each of these open canals a barricade 



348 Fernando Cortes 

defended by Mexicans liad been erected ; the first 
was captured and crossed with little diiflculty; 
at the second the fighting was sharper and more 
prolonged but, with comparatively little effort, 
^the Spaniards succeeded, after two hours, in 
Ipenetrating to the main square of the city. The 
artillery and brigantines had rendered the great- 
est services up to this point, for one discharge 
of the guns would sweep the street from end to 
end, while from the ships, which moved along 
each side of the causeway, a merciless fire was 
poured into the Aztec entrenchments at the 
bridges. 

It will be remembered that the chief temple 
surrounded by the coatepantli, or wall of ser- 
pents, and dominated by the great teocalU, 
stood in this square. Placing a piece of ar- 
tillery at the entrance, Cortes raised his battle 
cry of " Santiago " and led a charge that drove 
the Aztecs pell-mell before him into the sacred 
enclosure of the temple. From the terraces of 
the pyramid, the priests called on the god of war 
and animated the warriors fighting below in the 
court-yard, while over the noise of the battle was 
heard the ominous booming of their great drum 
of serpents' skins that stood on the summit of 
the teocalU. Vain was the effort to defend their 
temples; the inadequate weapons of the Mexi- 
cans could not withstand the Spanish steel, and 
after a brief but fierce struggle, the Christians 
reached the top of the pyramid and, for the 



549 




by the 

emen ; 

usion- 

failing 

iflcant 

fears 

cavalry 

I torious 

h vary- 
id Cor- 
retreat, 



The Siege of the Imperial City 349 

second time, smashed the idols, hurling them 
down into the stone-paved court-yard, accom- 
panied by the bodies of the priests who served 
their blood-stained altars. As though galva- 
nised into new courage by the sacrilegious de- 
struction of their deities, the Mexicans fell with 
unexampled fury on the Spaniards as they de- 
scended from the pyramid and, taking them 
somewhat by surprise, they drove them out from 
the court-yard into the square, where fresh troops 
attacked them, thus taking them between two 
fires. Bewildered by the suddenness of the on- 
slaught, the Spaniards lost their presence of 
mind; their ranks were broken and they were 
hopelessly scattered, each one flying for his life 
amidst the crowd of foes. The allies became 
panic-stricken, thus adding to the general rout, 
which all the efforts of their leaders were unable 
to check. 

The threatened disaster was only stayed by the 
opportune arrival of a small body of horsemen; 
no familiarity had sufficed to quite disillusion- 
ise the Mexicans about the horses and, failing 
on this occasion to realise their insignificant 
number, they yielded to their unreasoning fears 
and the conviction that a large body of cavalry 
w^as upon them ; they abandoned their victorious 
onslaught and fled from the square. 

The long day of incessant fighting, with vary- 
ing fortune, was drawing to its closv^, and Cor- 
tes ordered the trumpets to sound the retreat. 



SS^ Fernando Cortes 

which was effected in good order, the allies 
taking the lead, followed by the Spanish foot- 
soldiers while the rear was protected by the 
horsemen. The operations of Alvarado and 
Sandoval on the other causeways were less suc- 
cessful, owing largely to the fact that they had 
no brigantines to sustain them and, in part also, 
to the greater number of barricades that had 
to be captured. Thus ended the first general 
assault on the beleaguered city. 

Cortes in reporting this day's fighting to 
Charles V. imperturbably assures the Emperor 
that neither the Spaniards nor their allies sus- 
tained any loss, though he admits there were 
some wounded.^ It seems, however, incredible 
that both Spaniards and allies should have suf- 
fered no loss in this long day's fighting, which, 
though it ended to their advantage, had wit- 
nessed their utter rout and the capture of the 
field-gun on the square. Bernal Diaz, who was 
fighting under Alvarado, on the causeway from 
the Tacuba side, gives a more convincing de- 
scription of the daily losses and the wounds, 
which the men had to dress as best they could 
when they returned at night to their camp. 
There was a soldier, Juan Catalan, who was re- 
puted to have the gift of healing by prayer and 
charms and who had his hands full, as the In- 
dians also placed faith in him and brought him 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, ii., p. 77. 



The Siege of the Imperial City 351 

all their wounded. " I say " the soldier-chroni- 
cler piously adds, " that it pleased our Lord 
Jesus Christ, in His mercy, to give us strength, 
and to speedily heal us." 



CHAPTER XV 

THE FALL OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE 

Progress of the Siege — Aztec Victories — Attack on Tlate- 
lolco — The Great Disaster — Sotelo's Catapult — Last 
Days — Quauhtemotzin Captured and Tortured — The 
Victory and the Losses — Fruits of Conquest 

ALTHOUGH the first general assault on the 
city had not resulted in a complete vic- 
tory for the Spaniards, the destruction of the 
great temple had dealt the prestige of the 
Mexicans a telling blow. Observant caciques 
in the neighbourhood, who had still wavered, 
hesitated no longer, but hastened to Xoloc to 
offer their allegiance to Malintzin. The peo- 
ple of their tribes were chiefly useful in build- 
ing huts for the soldiers, bringing in provisions, 
and performing the menial labours of the 
camp. Prince Ixtlilxochitl of Texcoco pro- 
vided a fresh force of fifty thousand warriors, 
and the influence of his action on the lesser 
caciques of the valley was immediately ap- 
parent. The defection of the lake-towns cut 
off the source of the city's supplies. 

Cortes followed up his first attack by a 
second on the following day, penetrating again 
to the great square, where he burned one 

352 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 353 

of the most interesting and beautiful buildings 
in Mexico, — the imperial aviary. The fighting 
was always of the same character, the Span- 
iards storming the barricades erected at the 
open ditches on the causeways, then struggling 
through the water to the opposite side to 
pursue the retreating foe. The brigantines 
raked the causeways with a cross fire and 
penetrated each day a little farther into the 
larger of the city's numerous canals. The large 
guns were fearfully destructive, but the horse- 
men were even more dreaded by the natives, 
who could not entirely divest themselves of 
their superstitious terror of the cavaliers. 

At the hour of vespers, the Spaniards re- 
treated to their several quarters and, on enter- 
ing the city the following morning, they 
invariably found that the w^ater courses they 
had filled up with earth, adobes, and other 
available rubbish, had been dug out again during 
the night and the barricades rebuilt. One by 
one the few remaining tribes and cities of 
An^huac abandoned the beleaguered capital to 
its fate. 

The perfidy of these people dealt a terrible 
blow to Quauhtemotzin and the defenders of 
Tenochtitlan for, to their defection, they added 
treachery of the blackest complexion. Their 
chiefs appeared before the Emperor with offers 
of assistance, which were gratefully accepted 
by the hard-pressed sovereign. Their troops 
23 



354 Fernando Cortes 

were assigned places, and wlien the fighting be- 
gan, made a feint at first of attacking their 
Spanish allies, but afterwards suddenly turned 
their arms against the Mexicans, who were 
taken completely by surprise; their chiefs 
quickly rallied, however, and bringing up fresh 
troops, the traitors were soon severely punished, 
and leaving many dead and prisoners, the re- 
mainder fled from the city and rejoined the 
besiegers. The prisoners were upbraided by 
Macehuatzin, lord of Cuitlahuac, who decapi- 
tated four of the principal ones with his own 
hand and delivered the others to Quauhtemotzin, 
who ordered them to be sacrificed in the tem- 
ples of Mexico and Tlatelolco/ One of the 
worst effects of the defection of the lake-towns 
was to cut off the supplies of fresh water and 
food, which, in spite of the vigilance of the 
brigantines, they had found means to transport 
into the blockaded city. Henceforth hunger 
was added to the horrors of the siege, while 
the Spanish camp was enriched by supplies of 
fresh provisions. 

The force at the disposal of Cortes was too 
small to admit of establishing a night-watch to 
protect the ditches and barricades captured 
during the day; his men were exhausted by the 
day's fighting, and the allies were of little avail 
unless led by Spaniards. He therefore reluc- 

1 Sahagun, lib. xii., cap. xxxiv.; Torquemada, lib. iv., 
cap. cxiii. 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 355 

tantly ordered that all the buildings of the city 
should be destroyed, street by street, as the troops 
advanced; the Mexicans were thus forced, little 
by little, towards the Tlatelolco quarter of the 
town, of which the central point was the great 
market-place. Alvarado adopted other tactics 
on the Tacuba causeway and mounted a guard 
of forty soldiers, relieved at regular intervals 
during the night, to defend the positions he 
had captured. 

Quauhtemotzin showed himself as resourceful 
as he was determined, and for more than two 
months he held the mighty force of the be- 
siegers at bay. Though attacked from three 
different positions, he not only maintained an 
able defence, but, departing from the Aztec 
custom of never fighting after nightfall, 
he organised night attacks on the Spanish 
camps that kept the exhausted Christians con- 
stantly on the alert. In his reports to Charles 
v., Cortes says nothing of the losses suffered 
by the Spaniards during the operations of 
these days, though they were considerable 
enough to merit notice. The Mexicans had 
arranged a clever device for capturing the 
brigantines, which was partially successful. 
They stationed thirty of their largest canoes, 
filled with warriors, amongst some rushes, and 
after driving a number of stakes into the bottom 
of the lake in such wise as to impede the move- 
ments of the brigantines, some smaller canoes, 



356 Fernando Cortes 

such as usually carried supplies, were then sent 
into the open, where they were quickly dis- 
covered by the Spaniards, who gave chase, 
allowing themselves to be decoyed into the 
trap, where the stakes interfered with their 
movements. The captain of one of the brig- 
antines, Portillo, was killed and Pedro Barbo 
was mortally wounded; many others were 
wounded and the Mexicans carried off one 
brigantine in triumph. They paid dearly for 
their victory, however, for Cortes was so much 
mortified by this disaster that a counter- 
ambuscade was prepared, which drew the Mexi- 
cans successfully, and in which they suffered 
severe loss of many canoes, a number of slain, 
and others prisoners. 

The Aztecs had one formidable warrior of 
giant stature called Tzilacatzin, who was won- 
derfully skilful with his sling, every stone he 
sent bringing down its man. He was made 
the aim of all the Spanish archers and musket- 
eers, his great stature making him easily 
distinguishable, but they could never hit him. 
On one of these days, eighteen Spaniards were 
captured alive and sacrificed, their bodies be- 
ing afterwards cut up and distributed to be 
eaten. Another day, a furious assault led by 
a daring warrior of Tlatelolco called Tlapane- 
catl, almost succeeded in capturing the ensign. 
Corral, who carried the Spanish standard, and 
did carry off no less than fifty-three Castilian 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 357 

prisoners, besides numerous of the allies and 
four horses, all of whom were sacrificed in 
various temples. Alvarado's division was de- 
coyed by the Mexicans into a cleverly devised 
trap between two w^aterways, and completely 
routed. In this disaster, which Cortes only 
mentioned briefly in his Third Letter of Re- 
lation, five more Spaniards were taken alive, 
besides many Indian prisoners; a horseman 
and his horse were drowned and the survivors, 
all badly wounded and utterly demoralised, 
drew off to their camp amidst the victorious 
shouts of the Mexicans. The latter pursued 
them up to the very camp, but were repulsed 
with loss by a small battery stationed there, 
which was worked by an able engineer, named 
Medrano. The guns were so placed that they 
raked the entire causeway and as the brigan- 
tines used their falconets on both sides, the 
camp was effectively protected.^ Alvarado was 
an intrepid commander, and, nothing daunted 
by his repulse, he continued for four days to 
renew his attack at the same point, until on 
Friday, June 28th, he finally captured the bridge. 
Six more Spaniards perished in these combats, 
besides the wounded and allies, whose dead w^ere 
unnumbered. 

The market-place of Tlatelolco had become 
the objective point towards which the attacks 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cii.; Sahagun, lib. xii., cap. xxvi.; 
Torquemada, lib. iv., cap. xciii. 



35^ Fernando Cortes 

from the three Spanish camps were directed, 
and its capture became a matter of rivalry be- 
tween the men of the different divisions, for all 
were persuaded that with its fall, the city must 
make terms and capitulate. Yielding to the 
importunities of his impatient troops, Cortes 
called a council of war in which he allowed his 
own judgment to be overruled, and a concen- 
trated effort to reach the market-place was 
decided upon. The day fixed was Sunday, 
June 30th, and, after the celebration of 
mass, Cortes left Xoloc with his entire force, 
the fleet of seven brigantines and some three 
thousand canoes of the Indian allies having 
already moved off towards the canals leading 
into the city, from whence they were to sus- 
tain their part in the approaching combat. 
Halting at the Tacuba causeway, he pro- 
ceeded to outline his plan of action and to 
assign to each of&cer his iDosition. Alderete, 
in command of seventy foot-soldiers, and some 
twenty thousand allies, with a rear-guard of 
eight horsemen, was ordered to advance along 
the main street leading directly to the market- 
place. His force was accompanied by a large 
number of Indians, whose business it was to 
fill in the ditches crossing the streets, from 
which the bridges had been removed. Andres 
de Tapia and Jorge de Alvarado, a brother of 
Pedro, were in command of eighty soldiers and 
ten thousand allies and, after planting two 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 359 

heavy guns at the entrance of one of the streets, 
were also to advance towards Tlatelolco; eight 
horsemen were left to protect the gunners. 
Cortes himself commanded one hundred foot- 
soldiers, eight horsemen, and an infinite host 
of auxiliaries; the horsemen were posted at the 
entrance of the street, with orders to remain 
there and on no account to advance. Kecall- 
ing the lesson of Alvarado's repulse, Cortes had 
laid the strictest injunctions on each of the 
commanders never to advance one pace after 
capturing a waterway, until the opening was 
solidly filled in so as to assure their retreat. 

The Spanish columns advanced along the 
three roads and, although there was the usual 
resistance, one barricade after another was 
taken; so rapid was the advance and so slight 
the opposition of the enemy that the wary com- 
mander began to sus]Dect some ruse; messages 
from Alderete reported that he was rapidly 
nearing the market-place, but these communica- 
tions, instead of reassuring Cortes, only aug- 
mented his misgivings and, in answer, he always 
sent back a reminder of his orders to fill up 
the ditches before advancing beyond them. He 
was repeatedly assured that this was being 
seen to, but as he still seemed sceptical, it was 
suggested that if he did not believe what he 
was told, he might come and see for himself. 
Acting on this petulant suggestion, his worst 
fears were speedily confirmed at the very first 



360 Fernando Cortes 

ditch, which was ten or twelve paces wide, and 
two fathoms deep. In their eagerness to be the 
first to reach tlie market-place, the men had 
hastily thrown enough timber and rubbish into 
the chasm, on which to scramble across to the 
opposite bank, but had neglected the order to 
fill it solidly with earth. Convinced that 
Alderete had allowed himself to be decoyed 
into some trap, Cortes ordered his men to 
make all possible haste in filling up the water- 
course, but hardly had they begun their work, 
when the fierce war-cries of the Aztecs, in 
which his practised ear detected the note of 
triumph, announced the success of the sus- 
pected stratagem. Standing on the opposite 
bank, Cortes helplessly beheld the wild rush of 
his men in full retreat towards the yawning 
chasm, so closely pressed by thousands of the 
exultant enemy that the compact mass of hu- 
manity seemed to be rolling onwards to sure 
destruction. In vain he called and signed to 
his men to halt; they neither saw nor heard, 
nor could they have withstood the mass of 
struggling friends and foes that pressed them 
to their death. The watercourse was soon 
choked with floundering men ; some, over- 
weighted by their armour, were drowned, others 
were killed by the arrows and javelins of the 
enemy, while others were seized alive, dragged 
into canoes and carried off for sacrifice. A 
few managed to struggle across to where the 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 361 

commander and his companions pulled them, 
half dead, from the water. 

Cortes again owed his escape from instant 
death to the determination which obsessed the 
Mexicans to take him alive for the sacrifice. 
His rescuer was the same Cristobal de Olea ^ 
who had once before come to his aid in a mo- 
ment of peril at Xochimilco; with one blow of 
his sword he cut off the arm of the warrior 
who had seized on the general, falling dead 
himself the next moment. Bernal Diaz says 
that Olea slew four chiefs before he himself 
fell. 

This was the last victorious day for the 
Mexicans and witnessed their culminating ef- 
fort against their foes. Quauhtemotzin was 
everywhere present amongst his troops, urging 
them to a supreme struggle and sounding his 
trumpet of conch-shell " upon hearing which 
signal " Bernal Diaz says, " it is impossible to 
describe the fury with which they closed upon 
us." ^ Dominating the shouts of " Santiago," the 
screams of the wounded, the crash of arms, and 
the fierce war-cries of the Mexicans, was heard 
the lugubrious roll of the sacred tlapanhuehuetl 
of serpents' skins, which the priests beat with 
inspired frenzy before the war-god on the 
teocalli of Tlatelolco. 

1 Both Herrera and Torquemada give his name as Fran- 
cisco. 

2 Historia Verdadera, cap, ciii. 



362 Fernando Cortes 

Seven horses were killed, seventy Spaniards 
were captured alive, Cortes was badly wounded 
in the leg, Sandoval likewise in three places, 
and both his division and that of Alvarado, 
suffered serious reverses. When an account 
came to be taken of the extent of the disaster, 
dismay filled the sinking hearts of the Span- 
iards, and the Indian allies began to doubt the 
power of the teules and to ask themselves 
whether they were not, after all, fighting on 
the wrong side. 

Cortes threw the blame for this catastrophe 
on Alderete, who had disobeyed his order never 
to advance without first securing his retreat. 
Alderete denied that he had ever had such an 
order, and declared that it was Cortes who had 
urged the troops forward. Recriminations and 
censures were thus exchanged, for nobody would 
accept responsibility for such a calamity; it 
appears certain that Cortes had not been in 
favour of the assault, but had allowed his better 
judgment to be overruled by his companions, 
who were weary of the daily fighting and 
thought they could storm the Tlatelolco market- 
place and so end the siege. 

While gloom reigned in the Spanish camp, 
there was exultation amongst the Mexicans, 
whose waning hopes of victory were revived by 
their success. That night, the sanguinary rites 
of Huitzilopochtli were celebrated with all tlie 
pomp of the Aztec ritual, and amidst the files 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 363 

of priests bearing smoking censers, that 
mounted the terraces of the pyramid, the 
glare of torches and the sacred fires revealed 
to the horrified Spaniards the white, naked 
bodies of their comrades led, flower-crowned, 
to the stone of sacrifice. The priests pro- 
claimed that the war-god was appeased by the 
oblation of so many Spanish victims, and that 
within eight days he would give his faithful 
a complete victory over the impious invaders. 
This oracle was published amongst the allies 
and shook their wavering faith in the Span- 
iards; they saw that the city stubbornly held 
out; they perceived that the strangers were 
neither invincible nor immortal, and, as their 
ancient, superstitious fear of their gods re- 
asserted itself, tens of thousands quietly de- 
tached themselves from the Spanish camp and 
marched off homewards. Cortes used every ■ ef- 
fort to hold them and urged that they should 
at least wait eight days and see whether the 
prophecy was fulfilled, before deciding against 
him. The Tlascalan general, Chichimecatecle,^ 
and Prince Ixtlilxochitl of Texcoco remained 
steadfast to their sworn allegiance. The latter 
was naturally an object of peculiar hatred to 
the Mexicans, who reviled him and heaped im- 
precations on him as a renegade from his race 
and a traitor to his country. If he felt these 
taunts, he did not betray his feelings but, day 

1 Also spelled Chichimecatecuhtli, 



364 Fernando Cortes 

after day, joined in the scenes of carnage, 
facing both danger and obloquy unmoved. For 
five days there was some respite, the Spaniards 
nursing their wounds and preparing for a re- 
sumption of hostilities, while the Mexicans were 
engaged in making overtures to win back their 
faithless subjects and allies. 

The situation of the Spaniards was well-nigh 
desperate, but that of the Mexicans was hardly 
better, for famine stalked their streets, claim- 
ing as many victims as the Spanish cannon, 
and terribly weakening the defenders of the 
city. The besiegers tenaciously held their posi- 
tions on the causeways and, aided by the brig- 
antines on the lakes were unceasingly vigilant 
in maintaining the blockade. 

Throughout the siege there were a few Span- 
ish women, — some of them described as " wives " 
of the soldiers, — in camj), who displayed scarcely 
less courage than the men, for not only did 
they occuiDy themselves in the nursing, which 
is women's natural function in war-time, but 
they even mounted guard to relieve the weary 
soldiers who needed rest, and instances are 
given of their joining in the actual fighting. 
Cortes had intended leaving all these women at 
Tlascala, but his proposed order to that effect 
aroused such opposition, especially among the 
women themselves, who declared that Castilian 
wives, rather than abandon their husbands in 
danger, would die with them, that it was never 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 365 

issued. Little has been said of the courage and 
devotion of these obscure heroines, but Herrera 
has recorded the names of five, Beatriz de 
Palacios, Maria de Estrada, Juana Martin, 
Isabel Rodriguez, and Beatriz Bermudez, as 
meriting honourable mention in the annals of 
the conquest. 

The eight days appointed by the priests for 
the destruction of the besiegers expired, and 
the prophecy remained unfulfilled, seeing 
which the vacillating allies returned once more 
to the Spanish camp, where the politic general 
received them with his customary urbanity 
and, after reproaching them for their faithless 
desertion in a panic of foolish superstition, de- 
clared that he pardoned their fault and accepted 
them again as vassals of Spain and his allies. 

The timely arrival at Vera Cruz of a Spanish 
ship, belonging to Ponce de Leon, • carrying a 
cargo of powder and ammunition which the 
captain of the port bought and forwarded to 
the besiegers, infused new courage into them. 
The actual situation could not be prolonged 
and Cortes continued his plan of systematic de- 
struction so diligently that not a building re- 
mained standing in the quarters of the city 
held by the Spaniards, while the canals became 
so solidly filled in with the masses of stone and 
other materials from the demolished houses, 
that they were never again reopened. While 
this work was going forward, the Mexicans still 



o 



66 Fernando Cortes 



found spirit to taunt the labouring allies, their 
former vassals, saying: "Go ahead with your 
work of destruction; no matter how this ends 
you will have to rebuild the city, for if we con- 
quer, you will do it for us, and if Malintzin is 
victorious, you will be forced to do it for him." 
The logic of this Jibe struck Cortes at the 
time, and he reported it to the Emperor, adding, 
" and it has pleased God that the latter should 
happen, for it is indeed they [the allies] who 
are rebuilding the city." 

Even after the market-place was stormed and 
occupied by the Spaniards, and the temple with 
its idols had been destroyed, the daily offers 
of peace were rejected by Quauhtemotzin, and 
there still remained about one eighth part of 
the city into which the remnant of its inhabi- 
tants was crowded. 

At this time a soldier named Sotelo, a na- 
tive of Seville, who claimed to have seen much 
service in Italy and to know all about the con- 
struction of engines of warfare, proposed to 
Cortes to make a catapult, for hurling huge 
stones into the midst of the enemy. Bernal 
Diaz says that this man was eternally talking 
about the wonderful military machines he could 
build, with which he promised to destroy in 
two days the remaining quarter of the city 
where Quauhtemotzin held out. The com- 
mander consented to the trial, and stone, lime, 
timber, cables, and all the necessary materials 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 367 

were furnished, together with carpenters and 
masons, to carry out Sotelo's instructions. 
The machine was erected on the platform of 
masonry known as the mumuztli, a sort of 
theatre that stood in the square, and the pro- 
cess of its construction was watched with 
exultant expectation by the Indian allies, who 
foresaw the wholesale destruction of their 
enemies by means of the mysterious machine. 
They indulged in jubilant prophecies and called 
on the Mexicans to observe the growth of the 
engine destined to accomplish their overthrow. 
The Mexicans were equally impressed by the 
strange monster and watched its construction 
with the feelings of one in the condemned cell, 
who hears the workman building the scaffold 
on which he is to perish at dawn. The day of 
the trial (August 6th) arrived and a huge stone 
was fired, which, instead of flying over to the 
Indian quarter where it was aimed, shot 
straight up into the air and fell back into ex- 
actly the place from whence it had departed. 
Cortes was furious with Sotelo and ashamed 
of the failure in the presence of the gazing 
multitude; the luckless inventor was in dis- 
grace, and the catapult remained one of the 
standing jokes in the army. Infusing some 
gaiety into the company at such a dismal mo- 
ment, this invention may be said to have served 
some good purpose, even though not exactly the 
one expected of it. 



368 Fernando Cortes 

In the last desperate days, a final appeal was 
made by Quauhtemotzin to the national gods. 
Choosing one of his most valiant soldiers, a 
youth called Tlapaltecatlopuchtzin,^ from the 
quarter of Coatlan, he caused him to be vested 
with the armour of his dead father, the Em- 
peror Ahuitzotl, giving him also the bow and 
arrows which adorned the statue of the god of 
war and were regarded as the most sacred em- 
blems preserved in the temple. Thus accoutred, 
the young warrior with the formidable name 
went forth, accompanied by a chief called Cihua- 
coatlucotzin who acted as his herald, and who 
exhorted all the people in the name of the god 
from whom they now, in their extremity, de- 
manded a sign. The effort was vain and the 
god was silent ; this was on the tenth of August. 
On the night of the eleventh, there burst over 
the city a terrific storm, in the midst of which 
the affrighted Mexicans beheld a whirlwind of 
blood-red fire, throwing out sparks and flashes 
of light, which seemed to start from the direc- 
tion of Tepeaca, and, passing over the small 
quarter of Tenochtitlan still left to them, buried 
itself in the black waters of the lake. This 
ominous apparition, which was probably a 
meteor, was interpreted by the Aztecs as a 
portent, symbolising the downfall of the em- 
pire and the extinction of their power. 

1 The bearer of such a formidable name merits imperish- 
able renown in the annals of the conquest. 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 369 

The description penned by Cortes of the 
final assault, the fall of the last entrenchment 
and the capture of Quauhtemotzin, is not em- 
bellished by rhetoric but his terse language 
gave Charles V. a faithful picture of that 
dreadful massacre. Neither does Bernal Diaz 
enlarge upon details and, indeed, no language 
could do justice to the horror of the fall of 
the Aztec city, amidst the crash of battle, the 
smoke and flame of burning houses, the wails 
of the vanquished, and the shouts of the victors. 
The living and the dead choked the canals, the 
wounded and the dying were trampled together 
with putrefying corpses, in the sea of bloody 
mire into which the streets had been converted; 
the stifling August air reeked with the mingled 
smell of fresh carnage and decaying bodies, 
while amidst these human shambles the emaci- 
ated forms of women and children, destitute 
of any refuge, tottered pitifully under the 
merciless weapons of the savage allies, who 
gave no quarter but hunted all alike through 
this hell of despair, like demons set upon the 
ghosts of the eternally damned. 

The courage of the defenders never flagged; 
under the leadership of their young sovereign, 
who kept his serenity throughout and exercised 
his best generalship, these naked barbarians, 
weakened by famine and confronted by inevi- 
table defeat, fought against a steel-clad foe, 
armed with guns, both on land and on their 



2,7o Fernando Cortes 

ships, which mowed down a very harvest of 
death at every discharge. Never did they so 
much as name surrender, thus verifying liter- 
ally the words with which Quauhtemotzin an- 
swered the Spanish overtures for peace, that 
they would all perish to the last man in the 
city, and he would die fighting. 

Cortes daily renewed his offers of honourable 
terms for the Emperor and his people, if the 
city would surrender ; day after day, with in- 
finite patience, he made appointments which 
Quauhtemotzin never kept; time after time he 
wasted hours in waiting for better counsels to 
prevail, but nothing he could say or do sufficed 
to allay the distrust of Quauhtemotzin, or to 
bring the Mexicans to terms. Their choice was 
made; they had had enough of the Spaniards, 
whose semi-divine character was an exploded 
myth and whose presence in the land was felt 
to be incompatible with the Aztec sovereignty. 
Cortes protests throughout the greatest reluc- 
tance to destroy the city and declares repeatedly 
that the necessity of so doing filled him with 
inexpressible grief. The fate known to be in 
store for every Spaniard taken alive and the 
sight of the hideous rites of sacrifice, performed 
under the very eyes of the soldiers, helpless to 
intervene, followed by the cannibal feasts, in 
which the mangled members of their comrades 
furnished the banquet, were certainly sufficient 
to arouse the Spaniards to a very frenzy against 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 371 

such inliuman foes, and yet, there is nowhere 
found any hint that the spirit of vengeance 
prompted reprisals on the prisoners who fell 
into their hands. Such remains of the Spanish 
victims as could be found were afterwards col- 
lected and reverently buried, a chapel dedicated 
to the Martyrs being erected over the spot, 
which was afterwards replaced by the Church of 
San Hipolito.^ 

Cortes thus describes the capture of Quauhte- 
motzin and the end of the siege: 

It pleased God that the captain of a brigantine, 
called Garci Holguin, overtook a canoe in which 
there were some distinguished people, and as he 
had two or three crossbowmen in the prow of the 
brigantine and was crossing in front of the canoe, 
they signalled to him not to shoot, because their 
sovereign was there. The canoe was quickly cap- 
tured and he took Quatamucin and the Lord of 
Tacuba and the other chiefs who were with him; 
and the said captain, Garci Holguin, immediately 
brought the said sovereign of the city and the other 
chief prisoners to the terrace where I was, which 
was near the lake. When I invited them to sit 
down, not wishing to show any rigour, he ap- 
proached me and said to me in his language that 
he had done all that on his part he was bound to 
do, to defend himself and his people, until he was 
reduced to that state, and that I now might do 
with him as I chose; and placing his hand on a 
dagger which I wore, he bade me stab him with it 

1 Orozco y Berra, lib. iii., cap. viii. 



372 Fernando Cortes 

and kill him. I encouraged him, and told him not 
to be afraid; and this lord having been made 
prisoner, the war immediately ceased, which God 
Our Lord was pleased to bring to its end on this 
day, the Feast of San Hipolito, which was the 13th 
of August in the year 1521. So that from the day 
when we laid the siege to the city, which was the 
30th of May ^ of the said year, until it was taken, 
seventy-five days passed, in which Your Majesty 
may perceive the hardships, dangers, and cruelties, 
which these, your vassals, suffered, and in which 
they so exposed themselves that their deeds will 
bear testimony of them. In all these seventy-five 
days of the siege, none passed without more or less 
fighting.2 

Quauhtemotzin, seeing that escape was hope- 
less, stood up in the canoe saying : " I am the 
King of Mexico and of this country, take me 
to Malintzin. I only ask that my wife and 
children and the w^omen be spared." Some 
twenty persons were with him, all of whom 
Holguin brought back to the city. While the 
brigantine carrying the royal captive and his 
fellow-prisoners was returning across the lake, 
Sandoval came on board and demanded that 
Quauhtemotzin be delivered to him, as he was 
commander of that division of the fleet, but Hol- 
guin claimed the honour of the capture and 

1 The first active operations against the city really be- 
gan with the destruction of the aqueduct, a few days 
earlier. 

2 Letters of Cortes, torn ii., p. 127. 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 373 

refused to yield to his superior. The dispute 
that ensued, delayed matters, but Cortes, who 
was informed of the dissension, sent Luis Marin 
and Francisco Lugo with peremptory orders to 
cease wrangling and bring the prisoners to him. 

Bernal Diaz relates that the commander after- 
wards called the two claimants and cited to 
them, by way of example, the incident from 
Roman history of the capture of Jugurtha, and 
the dispute between Marius and Scylla as to 
the honour of that feat, productive of civil wars 
which devastated the state. He calmed them 
with the assurance that the circumstance should 
be fully laid before the Emperor, who would 
decide which of the two should have the action 
emblazoned in his arms. Two years later the 
imperial decision was given and ignored both 
the contestants, granting instead to Cortes the 
device of seven captive kings linked with a 
chain and representing Montezuma, Quauhte- 
motzin, and the rulers of Texcoco, Tlacopan, 
Iztapalapan, Cuyohuacan, and Matolzingo. 

There is little to add to the passage cited 
from Cortes describing what passed on that 
historic occasion, except that he gave orders 
that the Princess Tecuichpo, the youngest 
daughter of Montezuma and recently married 
to her cousin Quauhtemotzin, should receive 
every consideration. Humboldt, commenting on 
Quauhtemotzin's choice of instant death, com- 
mends the unfortunate young sovereign's con- 



374 Fernando Cortes 

duct in the following terms: ^'^Ce trait est 
digne du plus heau temps de la Grece et de 
Rome. Sous toutes les zones, quelle que soit 
la couleur des liommes, le langage des dmes 
fortes est le meme lorsqu'elles luttent contre le 
malheur" ^ The captive monarch was not de- 
ceived by the suave manner and honied words 
of his captor, and his forebodings were realised 
when, a few days later, upon his protesting 
that there was no treasure left in the city, 
Cortes consented to the use of torture to force 
him to speak. Bernal Diaz seeks to excuse his 
commander's part in this unworthy proceeding. 
It may be said, in extenuation, that he yielded 
to the angry clamours of his disappointed 
soldiers, and sought to disprove the insinuation 
that he had arranged with Quauhtemotzin to 
conceal the treasure so as later to appropriate 
it for himself. The custodian of the royal 
fifth, Alderete, seems to have insisted on the 
use of torture. The King bore the pain un- 
flinchingly and rebuked the groans of his 
fellow-sufferer, saying : " Do you think I am 
taking my pleasure in my bath? " His feet 
were almost burned off, and he remained a 
cripple until his death. The anniversary of his 
capture and the fall of the city were celebrated 
as a public holiday all during the period of 
Spanish rule in Mexico, but the Republic has 
abolished this observance. 
1 Essai Politique, p. 192, 4to ed. 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 375 

The eleventh and last of the Aztec sovereigns 
was a young man of great personal bravery and 
energy, in all things the opposite of his supersti- 
tious uncle, Mountezuma. He worked indefatig- 
ably to win allies, organise an effective defence, 
and save the tottering kingdom and city; he 
galvanised the timid into something like courage, 
he confirmed the waverers, and encouraged the 
patriots; large stores of arms and provisions 
were laid in, the useless, aged men and women 
and the children, were sent off to safe places in 
the mountains, while the city was filled with war- 
riors. The kings of Texcoco and Tlacopan (Ta- 
cuba) joined in these plans, co-operating with 
their fellow-sovereign. Had like zeal and har- 
mony existed a year earlier, Cortes and his men 
would never have reached the capital, save as vic- 
tims to be offered to Huitzilopochtli. Quauhte- 
motzin arrived too late. Nothing could ward 
off the impending disaster. The powerful states 
of Tlascala, Cholula, and others, had openly gone 
over to the Spaniards, blind to the inevitable 
destruction they were preparing for themselves; 
the allies of Mexico were doubtful and faint- 
hearted, — some of them merely neutrals, await- 
ing the issue, to declare for the victor. Never 
did prince die for duty's sake, choosing death 
with open eyes, and making a last stand for 
a forlorn cause, more nobly than did the heroic 
Quauhtemotzin. 

Riotous celebrations of the city's fall natu- 



$76 Fernando Cortes 

rally followed, the opportune arrival of some 
casks of wine and pork from Cuba furnishing 
the substance for a banquet, which was followed 
by dancing. Bernal Diaz remarks that the 
" plant of Noah was the cause of many fool- 
eries and worse," and that he refrains from 
mentioning the names of those who disgraced 
themselves by overindulgence and unseemly 
antics. Fray Bartolome de Olmedo was much 
scandalised at this profane celebration and 
quickly asserted his spiritual authority over 
the men. The next morning a solemn mass of 
thanksgiving was said, and the good friar de- 
livered a sermon on the moral and religious 
duties of the conquerors. Cortes and others 
received the sacraments, and these becoming rites 
ended decorously with a procession, in which 
the crucifix and an image of the Blessed Vir- 
gin, accompanied by the military standards, 
were carried to the sound of drums, alternating 
with chanted litanies. 

These vinous and pious festivities over, the 
first great disappointment of the conquest had 
to be faced. The fabulous treasure was no- 
where to be found, nor did tortures succeed in 
producing it. The place of its alleged burial 
in the lake, indicated by Quauhtemotzin, was 
searched by divers who, after many efforts, 
recovered only about ninety crowns' worth of 
gold.^ Bernal Diaz states his opinion that, 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. clvii. 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 377 

though it was rumoured that vast treasures 
had been thrown into the lake four days be- 
fore the end of the siege, the amount had 
doubtless already been greatly diminished be- 
fore it came into Quauhtemotzin's hands, and 
moreover, that the value of it had from the 
first, seemed double what it really was found 
to be when it came to be accurately estimated. 
The discontent amongst the soldiery w^as great 
and expressed itself in several ways, one of 
which, more original than the others, was the 
writing of pasquinades on the white walls of the 
officers' quarters at Cuyohuacan, some of which 
were witty, some insolent, and others not fit 
for print. Cortes even deigned to reply to 
some of them in the same vein, and on the same 
wall, for he rather prided himself on his ready 
wit and skill at verse making, but Fray Bar- 
tolome, perceiving that the limits of propriety 
were being overstepped, advised him to stop 
the practice, which he did by publishing severe 
punishments for any further writing on the 
walls. 

Positive data, on which to base the computa- 
tion of the numbers engaged during the siege and 
the lives lost are wanting. Cortes estimates that 
sixty-seven thousand Mexicans fell in the last 
three assaults on the city and that fifty thou- 
sand died of starvation and disease, without 
taking any account of all those who perished 
during the earlier days of the siege. Bernal 



378 Fernando Cortes 

Diaz gives no figures, but both lie and the 
historian Oviedo state their conviction that 
not more lives were lost at the siege of Jerusa- 
lem than in Mexico. The Jewish historian, 
Josephus, computes the losses of his people 
at 1,100,000 souls! The comparison with these 
appalling figures is so obviously exaggerated 
that these two authorities may safely be dis- 
regarded. Writing from the Mexican stand- 
point, Ixtlilxochitl puts the number of the dead 
from all causes at 240,000 persons, which greatly 
exceeds the estimate of Cortes. The same dis- 
crepancy appears in the counting of the forces 
which laid down their arms when Quauhte- 
motzin was captured. Oviedo leads again with 
70,000, Ixtlilxochitl follows with 60,000, and 
Herrera, who agrees with Torquemada, puts 
the number at 30,000 fighting men.^ Whatever 
the exact number may have been, the Mexican 
empire was destroyed, its capital annihilated, 
and a vast number of people butchered amidst 
scenes of unexcelled ferocity and horror. The 
annals of no great siege record deeds of greater 
bravery, and had the justice of their cause 
equalled the heroism of their defence, the down- 
fall of the Aztecs would be forever sung in song 
and story wherever brave deeds are remembered. 
As has been elsewhere explained, the laurels 

1 Herrera, Hist, Gen., lib. ii., cap. vii,; Torquemada, 
Monarchia Ind., lib. iv., cap. ci.; Ixtlilxochitl, Venida de 
los Espanoles, p. 49; Oviedo, lib. xxxiii. 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 379 

of the conquest are not exclusively for Spanish 
brows. The superlative generalship and per- 
sonal qualities of Cortes, the superior arms and 
knowledge of military tactics possessed by the 
Spaniards, and their indomitable courage, con- 
stituted their contributions to the successful 
issue of the long campaign. In the ready 
hatred of its neighbours and the quick deser- 
tion of its dependencies and allies, is read the 
proof of the inherent weakness of the Aztec 
empire. All that these peoples possessed, — 
their knowledge of the country, their labour, 
their treasure, their fighting-men, and their 
thirst for vengeance, — were placed at the dis- 
position of Cortes, and thus the conquest was 
accomplished. Even admitting the most and 
the worst that has been said of his methods 
in carrying on this war of invasion, the result 
commands our applause in the name of hu- 
manity. 

The Mexican civilisation, even granting that 
it had reached the high perfection claimed for 
it by some writers, was chaotic, stationery, and 
barren ; it rested upon despotic power, and its 
many crimes were expiated in the blood of their 
perpetrators. Whatever culture and refinement 
of living there were, centred in the capital and 
its immediate neighbourhood, the outlying pro- 
vinces being peopled by aboriginal, not to say 
savage tribes, which justified their existence by 
the tribute of men and money they paid, with- 



380 Fernando Cortes 

out being sliarers in the learning and luxury 
their labours sustained. Humanum paucis vivat 
genus.^ 

The arrival of the Spaniards in the midst of 
this chaos of tyranny and disloyalty, shattered 
the loosely joined organisation, whose inferior 
character foredoomed it to destruction when 
brought into contact with a higher and more 
progressive type of civilisation. The substitu- 
tion of the Christian religion for the horrors 
of human sacrifices and the revolting cannibal 
feasts is, of itself, a sufficient justification for 
the overthrow of an empire whose bloody and 
degrading rites were of the very essence of its 
religious system. Upon the ruins of the old 
order, a new civilisation has been founded from 
which has developed a nation, still in the pro- 
cess of formation, in which Spanish and Indian 
blood are mingled, and which is advancing on 
the road of human progress to what destiny we 
know not, but in which the humblest Indian has 
his place, living in a securer present, and mov- 
ing towards a higher future, than any his 
own race could have shaped for him. Many of 
the best men in modern Mexico trace, with 
pride, their descent from Aztec kings and nobles. 
A uniform and rich language with its system 
of phonetic writing, the introduction of beasts 
of burden, the use of iron and leather, improved 
systems of mining, and agriculture which have 

1 " The human race exists foi' the few." 



The Fall of the Aztec Empire 381 

brought under civilisation vast tracts of land, 
increasing tlie variety and quality of the crops, 
— these and countless other resources, unknown 
and unknownable to the Aztecs, have revolution- 
ised the present conditions of their existence 
beyond anything their ancestors could have 
dreamed. 

Even at the price it cost, the conquest must 
be approved, though it obliterated an interest- 
ing and wonderful civilisation so entirely, that 
the few surviving relics serve but to stimulate 
enquiries, to which few answers are forthcoming. 

With the destruction of the archives of Tex- 
coco, the sponge was passed over the tablets of 
Aztec history; unwise laws destroyed the native 
arts and crafts, whose products had astonished 
the foremost artisans of Europe, while the secrets 
of the lapidaries, of the gold- and silversmiths, 
and of the deft workers in feathers, and of 
other unique crafts, perished for ever, leaving 
the civilisation of Anahuac a mystery for all 
time. 



iiS 



CHAPTER XVI 

RECONSTRUCTION 

Position of Cortes— The Great Strait — Rebuilding Mexico 
— Cristobal de Tapia, Francisco de Garay and San- 
doval in Panuco — The Silver Cannon — Rebellion of 
Olid — Expedition to Yucatan — Death of Quauhte- 
motzin — Return to Mexico. 

TWO years and three months had elapsed 
since the departure of the two procura- 
tors, Puertocarrero and Montejo bearing the 
letters from Vera Cruz, to Charles V., during 
which lapse of time no direct word or sign of 
recognition had reached Cortes from Spain. 
He found himself absolute master of a vast em- 
pire that he had subdued without assistance 
from his sovereign, who continued to ignore 
the existence of both the conqueror and his con- 
quest. The position was a unique one, nor does 
history furnish another parallel to it. 

In his letter from Segura della Frontera, he 
had recounted all that had happened to him 
and his men during their first visit to the Aztec 
capital and had declared his firm intention of 
returning thither to recapture the city and re- 
duce the entire empire to His Majesty's obe- 
dience. This magnificent announcement fell on 
uncomprehending ears and had provoked no 
response. The authority of Cortes still had, for 

382 



Reconstruction 383 

its sole basis, liis election as chief -justice and 
captain-general of the colony, by the munici- 
pality of Vera Cruz which he himself had 
created. In reality, it rested on the control he 
exercised over his men and on their voluntary 
obedience to his will. 

The ruins of the capital being unhabitable 
because of the numbers of unburied dead, the 
impossibility of obtaining provisions, fresh water, 
and other necessaries, Cortes had established his 
headquarters at Coyohuacan, from whence he 
began the work of rebuilding the city. His con- 
duct in consenting to the torture of Quauhte- 
motzin at this time, has been compared with 
that of the Emperor Otho, as described by 
Tacitus, when he permitted the execution of 
Galba's ministers and friends. Othoni non- 
dum auctoritas inerat ad prohibendum scelus; 
jubere jam poterat.^ Though his reluctance 
to assent to this barbarous proceeding was 
doubtless sincere, and he even interfered to cut 
short his captive's sufferings, it is not likely 
that the use of torture to extract a confession 
from an unwilling witness revolted Cortes. Not 
merely at that time, but for two centuries or 
more afterwards, the use of torture was ap- 
proved, not only as a punishment, but to force 
confession of unprovable guilt or to obtain 

1 " Otho had sufficient authority to order the crime but 
not enough to prevent it." The historical comparison is 
made by Senor Alaman in the third of his Disertaciones. 



■ 3^4 Fernando Cortes 

evidence or information against suspected per- 
sons. 
V Two other procurators were now chosen to 
carry the royal fifth of the booty to Spain, and 
again Cortes invited his followers to renounce 
their shares in the curious objects of gold, silver, 
and feather-work, of which the workmanship 
was so remarkable that it eclipsed the value 
of the precious metal. Divided amongst so 
many, no one man would receive anything of 
consequence, while offered intact to the Em- 
peror these treasures would constitute a gift 
worthy of royalty. The renunciation was 
easily made; the taste of the men was for crude 
metal. 

This treasure never reached its destination. 
Alonso de Avila and Antonio de Quiiiones, the 
two officers charged to carry the gifts and the 
letters to the Emperor, first stopped at the 
Island of Santa Maria, one of the Azores, where 
Quiiiones was killed in a brawl; Avila was cap- 
tured off Cape St. Vincent by a French corsair. 
Florin, who, after robbing the ship of its 
precious freight, allowed it to continue its voy- 
age to Seville, where it arrived on November 
7, 1522. Avila was carried by Florin to La 
Kochelle, but found means to send his de- 
spatches to the Emperor. The Aztec spoils 
went to enrich the treasury of Francis I. of 
France, who justified their capture by saying 
he knew of no provision in Father Adam's will 



Reconstruction 385 

that made bis brother of Spain sole heir to all 
the earth's treasures. 

The news of the downfall of the great Aztec 
empire spread throughout the neighbouring 
states, whose rulers, one by one, sent their en- 
voys or came in person to offer their allegiance 
to the conqueror, and to solicit his protection. 
Mechoacan was the most important of these 
lesser kingdoms and possessed a long strip of 
coast on the Pacific. Cortes sent Spaniards 
with the envoys of Catzolcin, the ruler of 
Mechoacan, to explore the country and discover, 
if possible, a good harbour on the South Sea. 
The dream of the great strait uniting the two 
oceans was ever in his mind ; its discovery meant 
opening the way to the Indies, Cathay, and 
the Spice Islands, by which untold wealth 
would pour into Spain from those fabulous 
regions. Through all the later letters of Cor- 
tes, is discernible this, his chief preoccu- 
pation, as may be seen from the following 
passages taken from his Fourth Letter of Re- 
lation : 

In the past chapters, Most Powerful Lord, I have 
told Your Excellency to what points I had sent 
people, both by sea and land, believing that with 
God's guidance, Your Majesty would be well served 
by them; and, as I always take great care and be- 
think me of all possible means to carry out my 
desires for the advancement of the royal service 
of Your Majesty, it seemed to me that it only 



386 Fernando Cortes 

remained to explore the coast from Panuco to the 
coast of Florida, which was discovered by Juan 
Ponce de Leon, and from there to follow the coast 
of Florida towards the north as far as the Ba- 
callaos.^ For it is believed absolutely, that there 
is a strait on that coast, leading to the South Sea; 
and if it should be found, according to a certain 
drawing which I have of that coast, it must lead 
very near to where the Archipelago was discovered 
by Magellanes under Your Highness's commands. 
And should it please God, our Lord, that the said 
strait be found there, it would open a good and 
short passage from the Spiceries to these dominions 
of Your Majesty, quite two-thirds shorter than that 
which is at present followed, and one which will 
be free from risks and dangers to the ships; for 
they would then always go and come through the 
dominions of Your Majesty, having facilities for 
repairs in any port they choose to enter. I am 
thinking over to myself the great service that would 
be rendered to Your Majesty, though -I am quite 
wasted and exhausted by all I have done and spent 
in the expeditions I have fitted out by land and 
sea, and in providing ammunition and artillery in 
this city, and in many other expenses and outlays 
which daily occur; for all our provisions are ex- 
pensive and of such excessive prices that, although 
the country is rich, the income I obtain does not 
correspond to my outlays, costs, and expenses; yet, 

1 This is the first known project for finding the north- 
west passage. Bacallaos, or the sea of codfish, was so 
called from the vast numbers of these fish which have 
since become such an important article of commerce on 
our North Atlantic coasts. 



Reconstruction 387 

repeating all I have said before and setting all per- 
sonal interest aside, I have determined to prepare 
three caravels and a brigantine, of which the cost 
will reach more than ten thousand pesos of gold, 
which I swear to Your Majesty I shall have to 
borrow. I add this new service to those I have 
already rendered, for I hold it to be the most im- 
portant, hoping as I do to find the strait; and 
even if this should not be found, certainly many 
good and rich countries will be discovered, where 
Your Caesarian Majesty may draw profits from the 
Spicelands and other countries bordering on them. 
Thus I hold myself at Your Majesty's service, very 
happy if you will so command me and, in the ab- 
sence of the strait, I hope to conquer these coun- 
tries at less expense than any one else; but I pray 
Oiir Lord, nevertheless, that my armada may at- 
tain the object I pursue, which is to discover the 
strait, for that would be the happiest of all results. 
Of this I am well convinced, because, to the royal, 
good fortune of Your Majesty, nothing can be de- 
nied; and diligence and good preparation and 
zeal shall not be wanting on my part to achieve 
it. 

I likewise expect to send out the ships I have 
built on the South Sea, which vessels, — Our Lord 
being willing, — will sail down the coast at the end 
of July of this year, 1524, in search of the same 
strait; for if it exists, it cannot escape both those 
who go by the South Sea and those who go by the 
North ; for the South Sea Expedition will go till 
they either find it or reach the country discovered 
by Magellanes, and those of the North, as I have al- 
ready said, until they reach the Bacallaos. Thus on 



388 Fernando Cortes 

one side or the other we cannot fail to discover the 
secret. 

Visions of the great waterway to the East 
were not suffered, to interfere with the reorgani- 
sation of the shattered empire, and the work of 
rebuilding the destroyed city on its ancient site 
was actively begun. A plan was drawn, in 
which each concession of ground was marked; 
one lot was given to any one who applied, on 
the condition that he should build a house and 
live there for four consecutive years: each of 
the conquerors was entitled to two lots. Tlate- 
lolco and Popotla were the quarters of the new 
town assigned to the Indians, and the native 
market occupied its former place in the great 
square where the last desperate battles of the 
siege had been fought, while another market 
for the Spaniards was established before the site 
where the vice-regal palace was afterwards built. 

The Indians either speedily forgot their arts 
and handicrafts or concealed them; unwise laws 
were enacted which tended also to suppress 
them. Archbishop Lorenzana relates an in- 
cident illustrating the extraordinary ability of 
the Indians in executing the most delicate work 
with primitive tools. A native counterfeiter 
was arrested, and his whole outfit was found 
to consist of nothing but thorns from the ma- 
guey or cactus plant. The viceroy was so 
amazed that he offered the man his life if he 



Reconstruction 389 

would sliow how lie worked, but the Indian 
preferred to dia 

A municipal council was created in 1522 and, 
for the better control of the Indian population, 
Cortes revived the office of ciguacoat, or royal 
lieutenant; the authority of the Aztec emperors 
had been directly exercised through the holder 
of this office, whom the people were therefore 
accustomed to obey. Other j)i'iiices and ca- 
ciques were restored to the rank and dignities 
they or their families had formerly enjoyed, 
and were given jurisdiction over their subjects 
and dependents. They were required to fur- 
nish levies of workmen for the capital, and 
were held responsible for the good conduct of 
their people and for the amount of the taxes 
assessed by the government. A fortress, so de- 
signed as to shelter the brigantines and to de- 
fend the city, was constructed, and in his 
fourth letter , dated October 25, 1524, Cortes as- 
sured Charles V. that within five years Mexico 
would be the largest and handsomest town in 
all his vast dominions. The Bishop of Burgos 
had prohibited the shipment of artillery and 
munitions for the army, and Cortes was thus 
thrown upon his own resources to produce 
these much needed things in a country where 
they had never before existed. Iron was un- 
known to the Mexicans and, though copper was 
plentiful, there was neither zinc nor tin to fuse 
with it for making bronze; tin was opportunely 



\-^ 



39° Fernando Cortes 

discovered in Tasco, where it was used as 
money/ and within a reasonable space of time 
the total number of pieces of artillery reached 
the respectable figure of ninety-five. Powder 
was still wanting, but the resourceful com- 
mander, remembering that sulphur had been 
seen in the crater of Popocatepetl, sent thither 
a party of his men of whom one, Montaiia, was 
lowered into the mouth of the fiery mountain 
and brought back the required quantity. This 
perilous undertaking was never repeated as, 
with the removal from office of the obnoxious 
bishop, supplies were no longer withheld from 
Cortes. 

Cristobal de Tapia, after being detained in 
Hispaniola by the viceroy and the oMdiencia, 
arrived at Vera Cruz in December and pre- 
sented his full-powers from the Cardinal-regent 
to the municipality of that port. While recog- 
nising his official character, pretexts were dis- 
covered for deferring the execution of his 
orders, and Cortes was meanwhile notified of 
the commissioner's arrival. He selected Fray 
Pedro Melgarejo de Urrea as his ambassador 
and sent him to Vera Cruz to treat with Tapia, 
to whom he wrote an affectionate letter ex- 
pressing his pleasure at his arrival and his 
regret that an illness prevented him from com- 

1 Humboldt was struck with this mention of tin money 
and notes : " Le passage remarq^iable dans lequel Cortes 
parle de I'etain comme monnaie." (Essai Politique.) 



Reconstruction 391 

ing to welcome him. The Mercedarian was a 
prudent negotiator, and lie succeeded in con- 
vincing Tapia that his wisest course was to 
return immediately and without attempting to 
carry out his mission. The friar's diplomacy 
was backed up by the golden arguments that 
had been so profitably employed in former and 
similar circumstances, and the commissioner 
re-embarked for the Islands, after disposing of 
his horses, slaves, and stores at the highest 
market prices. If his reputation suffered in 
this transaction, he doubtless consoled himself 
with the profits to his fortune. 

The Tapia incident being thus easily disposed 
of, . Cortes resumed his labours for extending and 
affirming his rule throughout the empire; using 
Montezuma's tribute rolls as his guide, he de- 
spatched his captains into different provinces 
to found settlements, search for harbours and 
mines, and to report to him on the resources of 
the country. Alvarado was sent to Guatemala, 
Sandoval to Tuxtepeque where he founded a town 
named Medellin in honour of his commander's 
birthplace in Spain; Olid to Mechoacan, Villa- 
fuerte to Zacutula, and Juan Velasquez to 
Colima. Cortes himself headed an expedition 
to the Panuco region for the purpose of op- 
posing the pretentions of Francisco de Garay 
to exercise jurisdiction in those parts. 

At the conclusion of a successful campaign, 
the town of Santestevan del Puerto was founded 



392 Fernando Cortes 

on a narrow strip of land between the lake of 
Chila and the seacoast, and was provided with 
a small garrison and the usual municipal gov- 
ernment. The peace in Panuco was destined to 
be soon again disturbed by the arrival of Fran- 
cisco de Garay in person, at the head of nearly 
six hundred men. 

Cardinal Adrian's regency had meanwhile 
come to an end with his election to the papal 
chair under the title of Adrian VI., and Charles 
V, had returned to Spain and resumed the 
government of his kingdom. While the enemies 
of Cortes were as diligent as they were insidi- 
ous in their efforts to prejudice the young 
sovereign against him, his friends, amongst 
whom the most zealous were the Duke of Bejar, 
the Count of Medellin and his own father, 
Martin Cortes, were equally assiduous in defend- 
ing his character and explaining the value of his 
services. Tiie King appointed a commission to 
investigate the disputed merits of the conqueror 
and, acting on the report of this body, Charles 
approved his acts in Mexico and appointed him 
Governor, Captain-General, and Chief Justice 
of New Spain. Diego Velasquez and the Bishop 
of Burgos were rendered henceforth powerless 
to interfere in Mexico. The royal letters con- 
firming this appointment were dated from 
Valladolid, October 15, 1522. The Emperor 
wrote an autograph letter praising and thank- 
ing the members of the force for their services, 



Reconstruction 393 

and honours, grants of land, and other accept- 
able favours were liberally bestowed on both the 
officers and the men. 

Francisco de Garay based his claims to Pa- 
nuco on a royal appointment as adelantado ^ of 
a certain extent of country which he had ex- 
plored and in which he considered that Panuco 
was included. Fortunately for Cortes, his ap- 
pointment as Captain-General and Chief Justice, 
arrived from Spain by the same ship that 
brought him news of the machinations of Garay, 
who was acting in concert with Diego Velasquez, 
thus enabling him to confront his adversary 
with the royal cedula that rendered Garay 
powerless. Being thus worsted, the latter's 
prestige amongst his own followers was hope- 
lessly damaged, and meanwhile their imagi- 
nations had been so fired by the alluring tales 
of Alvarado and Ocampo, that the majority de- 
cided to abandon their leader and remain in 
Mexico. They had the technical excuse that 
they had engaged, under certain stipulated con- 
ditions, for an expedition to Panuco, but for 

1 The title given to the Governor of a province and 
which, in the case of Spanish discoverers, meant the leader 
of an exploring expedition who was empowered to colonise 
and establish a government of which he should be the 
head, in any countries he might discover. Las Casas 
sarcastically explained the etymology of the title, saying, 
porque se adelantaron en hacer males y danos tan gravis- 
simos a gentes pacificos, " because they took the lead in 
perpetrating such great evils and injuries on peaceful 
people." 



394 Fernando Cortes 

nowhere else, and as to Panuco Garay could 
not go, their contract no longer bound them. 
Ocampo, to whom Garay appealed to uphold 
his authority, made a show of beating the 
country for fugitives, but was careful to col- 
lect only the least desirable men, those known 
as adherents of Velasquez, whom he was glad 
to see leave the country. Reduced to these 
straits, Garay went to Mexico, where Cortes 
played the magnanimous, receiving him as an 
old friend and arranging a marriage between his 
daughter, Catalina, and Garay's eldest son. 

On Christmas eve, Garay assisted at midnight 
mass with Cortes and afterwards breakfasted 
with him; the same day he was seized with 
violent pains and died a few days later; so 
opportune did his death seem to some people, 
that whispers of poison were not wanting. The 
rising of the Indians of Panuco provoked by 
Garay's lawless followers under command of his 
son, whose authority they ignored, was one of 
the most formidable of its kind, and its ' sup- 
pression by Alvarado was marked by the 
ferocious cruelty characteristic of him. 

The proposed marriage between Doiia Cata- 
lina and the son of Garay never took place, for 
she is mentioned in the Bull of Legitimisation 
in 1529, as a maiden and in her father's will, 
made in 1547, she is mentioned as being in a 
convent in Coyohuacan. It is difficult to iden- 
tify her mother, for Archbishop Lorenzana says 




SANDOVAL 

FROM AN ENGRAVING IN HERRERA, VOL. II., PAGE 32 



Reconstruction 395 

she was the daughter of the first wife, Cata- 
lina Xuarez, while other writers affirm that her 
mother was Marina de Escobar, and still others 
assert that she was the daughter of Dona Elvira 
(daughter of Montezuma), in which case she 
would have been an infant at the time of her 
bethrothal to young Garay. 

To quell the disturbances amongst the Indians 
of Panuco, provoked by the members of Garay's 
scattered force, Gonzalo de Sandoval was sent 
thither and, by the capture and burning of four 
hundred chiefs, established peace in that region. 
The better to drive home the lesson, he forced 
the Indians to assemble and witness the fright- 
ful execution of their kinsmen. 

Some authors have sought to cast doubts on 
the number burned, and Herrera even reduces 
it to thirty, but the language of Cortes himself 
is unhappily too explicit to admit of doubt.^ 
Sandoval was a fellow-townsman of Cortes and 
was the youngest of his captains; he was his 
commander's favourite, and his character, as it 
is discerned in contemporary records, shows him 
to have been chivalrous, kindly, and the soul of 
fidelity to Cortes, who trusted both his loyalty 
and his prudence, absolutely. His conduct in 
Panuco, however repugnant to our standards 
of humanity, would have encountered the un- 
reserved approval of the collective military 
opinion of Europe at that time. The Duke of 

1 Letters of Cortes, torn, ii., p. 193. 



396 Fernando Cortes 

Alva, many years later, was instructed by 
Charles IX. of France to murder all the prison- 
ers he had taken at Genlis and Mons and, lest 
the French King's order might not constrain 
him to that measure, his own sovereign, Philip 
II., wrote that if for any reason he had failed 
to obey, he should delay no longer, adding the 
significant phrase, that his conduct would do 
both himself and all Christendom grave injury. 
St. Bartholomew, the Nones of Haarlem, and 
the Glencoe massacre, considered as repressive 
or punitive measures, equalled in ferocity the 
wholesale execution of the chiefs in Panuco. 
The guilt of such deeds of cruelty may be more 
justly assigned to the pliant jurists who forged 
such weapons, ready for their sovereign's hand, 
and most of all to the priestly casuists who 
salved the royal conscience and even blessed the 
blow. The rude soldiers who executed the deed 
were the least culpable amongst the guilty. 

News of the seizure by French pirates of the 
treasure sent to Charles V. having reached 
Mexico, Cortes had collected another hoard of 
gold, silver, feather-work, rich stuffs, and cu- 
rious ornaments. Being just then engaged in 
casting guns, he indulged in an extravagant 
fancy destined to impress the Emperor and his 
court with the magnificent resources of New 
Spain. This was the casting of a silver cannon, 
or falconet, for his sovereign's acceptance. It 
weighed about twenty-three hundred- weight; the 



Reconstruction 397 

ornamentation, executed by the best native silver- 
smiths, displayed a phenix, underneath which 
was the following inscription: 

Aquesta nacio sin par, 

Yo en serviros sin segundo; 

Vos, sin igual en el mundo. 

The Jesuit historian, Cavo, says this legend pro- 
voked much invidious comment at the Spanish 
court. 

The appointment of their commander as cap- 
tain-general and chief-justice was hailed with 
enthusiasm by the men who had accomplished 
the conquest, for, with the arrival of the royal 
commission, all past irregularities were wiped 
out, their semi-piratical and mutinous conduct 
towards the colonial officials was condoned, and 
both Cortes and his men might congratulate 
themselves on finally occupying a legally sound 
and royally recognised status under the Spanish 
crown. The Emperor's promises of recompense, 
though vague, w^ere sufficient to feed the hopes 
of the veterans for some time to come, while 
his words of praise reconciled them to a further 
postponement of more substantial rewards. 

During this period of the reconstruction of 
the Mexican State, Cortes proved himself a 
painstaking and capable ruler, and nothing that 
could attract colonists, promote their welfare, 
and develop the resources of the country es- 
caped his attention. In March. 1524, he pub- 
26 



398 Fernando Cortes 

lished a set of Ordinances for the government 
of the country, whose provisions furnish incon- 
testable proof of his wisdom as a lawmaker. 
Some of his enactments were as strict as any 
Puritan could have prescribed. Married colo- 
nists were obliged to bring their wives to their 
plantations within eighteen months, under pain 
of forfeiting the grant; those who were unmar- 
ried were given the same period within which 
to find wives.^ Sumptuary laws regulated the 
wearing of velvets, silks, and brocades, and their 
use for saddles, shoes, and sword-belts, as well 
as the display of jewels, gold ornaments, and 
embroideries.^ 

Sunday observance was very rigid and all 
shops were closed; trades of every kind were 
suspended during the hours of religious services, 
while attendance at mass was compulsory on 
Sundays and great feast days. Gambling was 
the hardest vice to control, and the enemies of 
Cortes were not slow to criticise his own fond- 
ness for cards and dice, alleging that he pri- 
vately practised and encouraged what he publicly 
condemned. 

Unfortunately the Spaniards introduced the 
most repreliensible of all " sports " if such it 
can be honestly called, the bull-fight, as early 
as 152G,^ Dancing was not discouraged, and 

1 Gomara, Hist. Mex. Ordenanzas apud Pacheco and 
Cardenas. 

2 Puya, Cedulario. 

3 Vetancourt, Teatro Mexicano. 

- ^ 



Reconstruction 399 

religious festivals were celebrated with gorgeous 
processions, so life was not quite so colourless 
as it was afterwards made in the New England 
colonies. 

To provide for the conversion of the natives 
and the maintenance of Christian instruction 
and practices amongst the Spaniards, was 
amongst the chief cares of Cortes, and to this 
end, he begged the Emperor to send men of 
the religious Orders to Mexico. He objected to 
bishops, as being too fond of good living and 
too lazy to devote themselves to such labours, 
while their lax morals would only provoke 
scandals and discredit the Christian religion. 
He asked that the Emperor obtain episcopal 
faculties for the priors of the Orders and thus 
obviate the necessity of having bishops. Charles 
V. acted on this suggestion and the Pope, at 
his instance, gave to Padre Toribio de Bene- 
vente (Motolinia) power to give confirmation 
but not to consecrate holy oils. The first su- 
perior of the Franciscans was Friar Martin de 
Valencia, and of the Dominicans, Friar. Vetan- 
zos, who built the first convent near Texcoco, 
at a place called Tepetlaxtoc.^ 

Cortes was somewhat sweeping in his con- 
demnation of bishops, and his strictures may 
only be admitted with reservations. Arch- 
bishop Lorenzana agrees with other authorities 
that there were bishops and canons in Spain, 

^ Lorenzana, Fourth Letter, note. 



400 Fernando Cortes 

who led lives that were far from exemplary, 
but says that this state of things was fortu- 
nately brought to a close by the disciplinary 
enactments of the Council of Trent. With such 
examples of apostolic virtues and missionary 
zeal as are found in the lives of Spanish bishops 
like Las Casas, Zumarraga, and Diego Landa 
before us, it seems evident that Cortes too 
easily despaired of finding men of episcopal 
rank adapted for spiritual labours in Mexico. 
He also objected to doctors and more especially 
to lawyers, and earnestly begged the Emperor 
to forbid members of these learned professions 
to come to Mexico, saying that the doctors would 
only bring new diseases with them, while fail- 
ing to cure the old ones, and that the lawyers 
would flourish by augmenting the contentions 
and dissensions which, though already too fre- 
quent, the colonists managed to settle amicably 
amongst themselves. 

In October of 1524, it seemed to Cortes, as 
he expressed it in his Fifth Letter to Charles V., 
that he " had been a long time inactive and 
without undertaking anything in Your Majesty's 
service." Cristobal de Olid had been sent in 
1523 to establish a settlement in Honduras and 
his expedition left Vera Cruz on January 11, 
1524, stopping first at Cuba, where the com- 
mander fell under the influence of Diego Velas- 
quez, who incited him to throw off the authority 
of Cortes and act independently. When the 



Reconstruction 401 

first news of his insubordination was brought 
to Cortes by Gonzalo de Salazar, he despatched 
his kinsman, Francisco de Las Casas, to recall 
Olid to his obedience. Olid had sent a part of 
his forces against Gonzalo de Avila, who was 
also exploring in that country, and upon the ar- 
rival of Las Casas, he temporised, seeing that he 
could not successfully resist, and while thus 
gaining time, he sent hurriedly to recall his 
men. A violent storm having driven the ships 
of Las Casas on to the coast, he and his men 
were easily captured, and as Gonzalo de Avila 
was likewise taken at the same time, Olid's 
star was in the ascendant. His triumph was 
short-lived, however, for he had rendered him- 
self unpopular in the colony, of which fact his 
prisoners, who had complete liberty to go about, 
with the sole restriction that they were not to 
carry arms, took advantage to plan a success- 
ful rebellion against him. He was captured 
and, after a summary trial, was beheaded in 
the public square of Naco. The audiencia of 
San Domingo had sought to forestall these 
conflicts amongst Spaniards, by sending their 
agent, the bachelor Moreno, with full powers 
to order Las Casas back to Vera Cruz, hoping 
to put an end to the contests between Olid and 
Avila, and to stop Pedro de Alvarado who, 
by order of Cortes, was marching overland 
against Olid. Moreno's proceedings and those 
of his companion, Ruano, are recounted in the 



402 Fernando Cortes 

memorial read by the colonists to Cortes, wliicli 
the latter transcribed in his Fifth Letter for 
the Emperor's information. 

It was the news of the shipwreck of Las 
Casas, and of the troubled state of the Hon- 
duras colony that prompted Cortes to undertake 
his remarkable expedition through Yucatan, 
which forms the subject of his Fifth Letter to 
Charles V. In spite of the royal favour shown 
him, and the rank and powers conferred upon 
him in Mexico, Cortes began at this time to 
suffer from attacks on all sides. The Spanish 
officials formed, in reality, a band of spies on 
his every act. Gonzalo de Salazar, Pero Ar- 
mildez Chirino, Alonso de Estrada, and Kodrigo 
de Albornoz were sent as revenue officers to 
Mexico in 1524 and empowered to establish a 
court of accounts. Estrada was treasurer, Al- 
bornoz was accountant, Salazar, factor, and 
Chirino, inspector. Their expectations of find- 
ing immense treasures ready at hand, were 
disappointed, and the only explanation which 
seemed adequate was that Cortes had concealed 
or made way with them. In their joint despatch 
to the Emperor, they accused him of possessing 
great riches, and of having hidden the treasure 
of Montezuma instead of accounting for it to 
the crown. They described him as tyrannical, 
disloyal, and engaged in plotting to establisli 
liis authority independently in the country. 
This desj)atch was closely followed by two other 



Reconstruction 403 

letters, one signed by all of them and the other 
by Salazar alone. Salazar stated that Cortes 
had collected three hundred and four million 
castellanos, without counting Montezuma's 
treasure which was buried in various secret 
places; that he had retained for himself some 
thirty-seven or forty provinces, some of them 
as large as all Andalusia; that he was com- 
monly believed to have poisoned Francisco de 
Garay; and that the ships he pretended were 
preparing for the expedition to the Spice 
Islands were really for the purpose of carry- 
ing himself and his treasure in safety to 
France. 

, It was doubtless a relief to the harassed spirit 
of Cortes to escape from the trials of the gov- 
ernorship and the attacks of his enemies, and 
to betake himself to the wilderness in search 
of the secrets of the lands and seas to the un- 
known South. In setting forth on this expedi- 
tion, which was to cover a distance of five 
hundred leagues through savage lands, he af- 
fected the pomp of an Oriental satrap, taking 
with him, besides the necessary soldiers, guides, 
Indian allies, and camp-followers, a complete 
household of stewards, valets, pages, grooms, 
and other attendants, all under the command 
of a major-domo of the household. Gold and 
silver plate for his table was provided, also 
musicians, Jugglers, and acrobats to amuse the 
company. Spanish muleteers and equerries 



404 Fernando Cortes 

were taken along to have charge of the car- 
riages and horses and, in addition to the usual 
provender, a supply of meat was ensured by 
an immense drove of pigs driven along, which 
could not have accelerated the march. He had 
a map painted on cloth by native artists, which 
showed, after their fashion, the rivers and 
mountain chains to be crossed. This and his 
compass were all he could rely upon to guide 
him during his perilous undertaking. Doiia 
Marina, went as chief interpreter, but Geronimo 
de Aguilar did not accompany this expedition, 
though he was not dead, as Bernal Diaz states, 
for in 1525 he applied for a piece of land on 
which to build a house in the street now called 
Balvanera.^ The record of these events, how- 
ever noteworthy, may seem tame reading after 
the exciting chronicle of the siege and fall of 
Mexico, — a war drama of the most intense kind, 
— but in forming a correct estimate of the char- 
acter of Cortes we must not restrict ourselves 
to a study of the qualities he displayed in the 
course of the conquest, and which prove him a 
most resourceful genius. At five and thirty 
years of age he had successfully completed as 
daring and momentous an undertaking as his- 
tory records, and it is as conqueror of Mexico 
that he takes his place among the world's great 
heroes. M. Desire Charnay, in the preface to 
his French translation of the Five Letters says: 

1 Alaman, Dissertazione iv. 



Reconstruction 405 

''^ La conquete de Cortes . . . coCtta au Mexique 
de dix millions d'etres humains emportes par 
la guerre^, les maladies et les mauvais traite- 
ments : de sorte que cet liomme de genie pent 
entrer sans conteste dans la redoutahle phalange 
des fleaiix de lliumanite." ^ 

This journey through Yucatan, that would 
have won renown for another, added nothing 
to his reputation, rather may it be said that 
the darkest stain his name bears was inflicted 
on it amidst the labyrinthine forests of that 
distant land. The hardships endured by him- 
self and his men challenge credibility; the 
country was intersected with vast rivers and 
overgrown with such extensive forests that for 
days they marched in a subterranean gloom, 
unable to see the sky and hardly able to find 
their footing. Dismal swamps, stretching away 
indefinitely, intercepted their march, over the 
greatest of which the persevering commander 
built a bridge composed of one thousand tree 
trunks, each sixty feet long and as large round 
as a man's body. The Spaniards being so re- 
duced by hunger, fatigue, and despair of ever 
getting out of the wilderness alive, were on the 
verge of open mutiny and refused to undertake 
the titanic labour, but their leader was not 
merely undaunted by the difficulties of the task 
and undismayed by their refusal to work, he 

1 Just what M. Charnay means these figures to include, 
is not clear. 



4o6 Fernando Cortes 

accomplished liis purpose and, at the same time, 
administered a stinging rebul^e to their Cas- 
tilian pride, for he called together the Indians 
of his expedition and confided the work ex- 
clusively to them, excluding his own men, who 
were thus little by little shamed into lending a 
hand towards completing the bridge. 

Beyond this great morass, new difficulties of 
a different kind awaited them, for the whole 
country seemed but one shaky quagmire in 
which the horses sank to their girths, or as 
Cortes wrote " to their very ears." At the be- 
ginning of Lent in 1525 a halt was made in the 
province of Acalan, during which Quauhte- 
motzin and his fellow captives were executed. 
Cortes related the incident in his Fifth Letter 
to the Emperor as follows: 

An event happened in this province which it is 
well Your Majesty should know. An honourable 
citizen of Temixtitan, by name Mexicalciugo, but 
now called Cristobal, came to me one night privately, 
bringing certain drawings on a piece of the paper 
used in that country and explained to me what it 
meant. He told me that Guatemucin whom, since 
the capture of this city, I have held a prisoner on 
account of his turbulent nature, carrying him as 
well as other chiefs and lords whom I thought the 
cause of revolt in this country, with me was con- 
spiring against me. Besides Guatemucin, the King 
of Texcoco and Tetepanguecal, King of Tacuba 
and a certain Tacatelz who had lived formerlv in 



Reconstruction 407 

Mexico in the quarter of Tatelulco, all of whom 
many times conversed among themselves, had told 
this Mexicalcingo how they had been dispossessed 
of their land and authority and were ruled over by 
the Spaniards, and that it would be well to seek 
some remedy so that they might recover their au- 
thority and possessions ; and, in speaking thus dur- 
ing this expedition, they had thought the best way 
would be to kill me and my people and afterwards 
to call on the natives of these provinces to rise and 
kill Cristobal de Olid and all his people; after that, 
they would send their messengers to Temixtitan to 
incite the people to kill all the Spaniards, which 
thing they thought could easily be done, as many 
were newly arrived and untrained to warfare. 
After that, they would raise the whole country and 
kill all the Spaniards wherever they might be 
found, putting strong garrisons of natives in all the 
seaports so that none might escape nor any vessel 
coming from Castile take back the news. By these 
means they would rule again as before, and they 
had already distributed the different provinces 
amongst themselves, giving one to this same Mexi- 
calcingo. I gave many thanks to Our Lord for 
having revealed this treachery to me and at day- 
break I imprisoned all those lords, each one by 
himself, and then inquired of them, one by one, about 
the plot; and to each I said that the others had 
revealed it to me (for they could not speak with 
one another). Thus they were all constrained to 
confess that it was true that Guatemucin and Tete- 
panguecal had invented the plot and that, though 
the others had heard it, they had never consented 
to take part. These two, therefore, were hanged 



4o8 Fernando Cortes 

and I set the others free because it appeared they 
were to blame for nothing more than having listened, 
although this alone was sufficient for them to 
deserve death ; their case, however, remained open 
so that at any time they relapse they may be pun- 
ished accordingly, though it is not probable that 
they will again conspire for they think that I dis- 
covered this by some magic, and that nothing can 
be hidden from me; for they have noticed that to 
direct the making of the road I often consult the 
map and compass, especially when the road ap- 
proaches the sea, and they have often said to the 
Spaniards that they believed I learned it by that 
compass ; also they have sometimes said, wishing to 
assure me of their good disposition, that I might 
know their honest intentions by looking into the 
glass and on the map, and that there I would see 
their sincerity since I knew everything by this 
means. I allowed them to think that this was true. 

The Indian version of Quauhtemotzin's execu- 
tion copied by Torquemada from a Mexican 
manuscript, is quite different from the one 
Cortes gives to the Emperor. Cohuanacox, 
King of Texcoco, spoke privately at Izancanac 
with his fellow-prisoners, saying that were their 
people not what they were, their kings would 
not be so easily reduced to slavery and marched 
about behind the Spanish commander, and that 
it would in reality be easy enough to repay 
Cortes for burning Quauhtemotzin's feet. At 
this point the others stopped him, but a Mexi- 
can who is called ^Mexicalcin and was baptised 



Reconstruction 409 

as Cristobal had overheard and reported the 
words to Cortes, who, without more ado, hanged 
the three princes that night on a ceiba tree. 
Torquemada expresses the opinion that Cortes 
was weary of guarding the royal captives yet 
dared not free them, and was glad to use the 
first pretext to kill them. 

Bernal Diaz states that both Quauhtemotzin 
and Tetlepanquezatl protested their entire in- 
nocence and that all the Spaniards disapproved 
the execution. Cortes dared much, and there was 
little articulate public opinion in Mexico whose 
voice he could not control, but it is doubtful if 
he would have dared to hang the last three 
native kings on such vague charges, reported 
by a camp servant, with all Mexico looking on. 
The king whom Cortes served, offered five 
thousand crowns for the assassination of an 
enemy, and there was not a contemporary 
sovereign in Europe who, in case of necessity, 
w^ould have hesitated to follow his example. 

It were not strange that the royal captives 
should have talked of their misfortunes and 
sufferings, when they thought they were alone, 
or have discussed how it all might have, been 
prevented, or even repaired, but it is a far cry 
from such communings over their camp-fire to 
tlie organisation of a plot to kill their captor 
and raise a general insurrection against the 
Spaniards. There seems no discoverable justi- 
fication for this barbarous and treacherous act. 



4IO Fernando Cortes 

It needed no gift of prophecy for Quaiilitemotzin 
to foresee his fate when he fell into the hands of 
Cortes, and the choice he then expressed for 
immediate death proved that he cherished no 
illusions as to what the future held for him. 
Prescott, in describing the inglorious end of 
the last Aztec emperor says : " Might we not 
rather call him the last of the Aztecs, since 
from this time, broken in spirit and without a 
head, the remnant of the nation resigned itself 
almost without a struggle to the stern yoke of 
its oppressors." 

It is said that Cortes was disquieted in his 
conscience after this " execution " and for a long 
time could not sleep. The murdered captives 
w^ere: Quauhtemotzin, Emperor of Mexico, 
Cohuanacox, King of Texcoco; Tetlepanquetzal, 
King of Tlacopan; Oquizi, King of Atzcapot- 
zalco; Vehichilzi, brother of Quauhtemotzin and 
King of Mechoacan, and the two Indian generals, 
Xihmocoatl and Tlacatle. Humboldt ^ describes 
an Indian picture-writing representing the hang- 
ing of these prisoners by their feet to prolong 
their sufferings, which he saw in Mexico. . 

Everywhere during his progress through the 
wilds, Cortes proclaimed his religious and poli- 
tical dogmas; the natives were instructed in 
the faith, crosses and altars replaced the de-^ 
molished idols in their teocalli, and the uni- 
versal sovereignty of the King of Spain over 

1 Essai Polit., lib. iii., cap. viii. 



Reconstruction 41 1 

all the American nations was asserted. He 
reported hopefully to the Emperor on the ef- 
fects of his propaganda, but his oi)timism rested 
on shadowy foundations. At Peten-Izta, an 
island city in the lake of Peten, where the ca- 
cique seemed an unusually enthusiastic convert, 
a horse belonging to Cortes was found to be 
so badly lamed that it had to be left behind. 
Charging the willing cacique to look to its 
welfare, the expedition moved on. The fate of 
this animal proved indeed a strange one. Villa- 
gutierra ^ relates that some Franciscan monks, 
who visited Peten-Itza in 1614, with Don Martin 
Ursua, landed with the intention of building 
a church on the island and found there a large 
temple, in which stood the image of a horse 
very well carved in stone. They discovered 
that the lame horse had later become an object 
of great veneration to the natives who fed him 
on flowers, birds, and similar delicacies, with 
the natural result that the poor animal starved 
to death, after which he was ranked amongst 
the native deities and worshipped under the 
title of Tziminchak, god of thunder and light- 
ning. It would appear from this that the 
Christian doctrines had not been so clearly 
understood by the chief and his people as Cortes 
imagined. 

On his arrival at the Spanish settlement on 
the Golfo Dulce, Cortes learned of the fate of 

1 Hist, de la Conquista del Itza. 



412 Fernando Cortes 

Olid, and of all the adventures and afflictions 
that had befallen the colonists; he was wel- 
comed by the miserable, fever-stricken remnant 
of the people, with what enthusiasm they could 
still muster. After listening to the recital of 
their vicissitudes and grievances, he turned 
his attention to ftlanning an exploring ex- 
pedition through the neighbouring province of 
Nicaragua, which he felt must be conquered be- 
fore he returned to Mexico. At this juncture, 
however, there arrived a letter from the licen- 
tiate Zuazo, recounting the misrule in Mexico 
that had followed close upon the departure of 
Cortes from the city. The men composing the 
Provisional Government had fallen to wrang- 
ling, — even drawing their swords in the council 
chamber, — and, after persecuting, imprisoning, 
or exiling most of his friends, these men had 
seized and sold his property and were per- 
petrating such outrages that the Franciscans 
had left the city and the entire populace lived 
in daily apprehension of a mutiny of the 
Indians. 

The report of the absent commander's death 
was so persistently spread and with such de- 
tails of the time and place of his decease, that 
his own friends and servants began to believe 
it. To confirm the impression requiem masses 
were celebrated for the repose of his soul. 
Diego de Ordaz started with four brigantines 
on the Xicalango River, which empties into the 



Reconstruction 413 

gulf, to ascertain, if possible, the truth of the 
rumours; he met several Indian traders, who 
assured him that Cortes had been dead for seven 
or eight moons, having been captured after a 
battle, in which he was wounded in the throat, 
by the cacique of Cuzamilco, a town on the 
lake seven days' distant from Xicalango; and 
that the cacique had sacrificed him to the prin- 
cipal deity of the place called Uchilobos.^ 
Zuazo's report convinced Cortes that only his 
presence would suf&ce to restore order out of 
the chaos prevailing in the capital. His first 
two efforts to embark for Vera Cruz were de- 
feated by severe gales, and it was not until 
April 25, 1526, that he was able to set sail from 
Honduras. His vessel was driven to the island 
of Cuba where he remained until May 16th, 
when he re-embarked and, after a voyage of 
eight days, landed near San Juan de Ulua. 
His arrival was unexpected and he landed un- 
noticed, proceeding directly to Medellin where he 
repaired to tlie church and was engaged in his 
devotions when the news of his presence became 
public. He was so broken by the fatigues of his 
expedition and so wasted by fever and wounds 
that he was scarcely recognisable, and many 
could hardly persuade themselves that the ema- 
ciated man they saw was the gallant Malintzin. 
He was received with the wildest rejoicing, the 

1 Letter of Albornoz to Charles V., December 26, 1526, 
apud Munoz, torn. Ixxvii., fol. clxix. 



414 Fernando Cortes 

Indians outdoing the Spaniards in their en- 
thusiasm; for despite the sufferings he had 
brought upon them, he understood how to be 
kind to them and, compared with the cold 
brutality and insatiable rapacity of the mean- 
spirited officials who had oppressed the natives 
during his absence, the treatment of them by 
Cortes seemed to this poor people that of a pa- 
ternal benefactor. The Jesuit historian, Cavo, 
in recounting the events of this period says that 

these were surely among the happiest days of 
Cortes's life, for he could hardly proceed on his 
march on account of the constant demonstrations 
of the crowds of Indians who came, some of them 
even a distance of sixty leagues to see him and 
bring him presents, so that, had he been their own 
king Montezuma, they could not have behaved dif- 
ferently. Cortes was more than once moved to tears 
by such unexpected demonstrations of joy from this 
simple people. 

On his arrival in the capital, Cortes retired 
for six days to the Franciscan monastery " to 
give an account of my sins to God " as he 
wrote to the Emperor. During his absence of 
nearly two years, his enemies, both hidden and 
declared, had sent complaints of him to Spain 
by every ship; lie was accused of murdering his 
wife, Catalina, who had died within a few 
months after her arrival in Mexico where, 
though her presence was uninvited and probably 



Reconstruction 4^5 

unwelcome, she was received with the honour due 
to her husband's exalted position.^ He was ac- 
cused of defrauding both the royal treasury and 
his companions in arms, by taking an undue 
share of the spoils of war for himself, and, 
finally, the accusation of plotting to set up an 
independent government with himself as king 
was preferred against him. These ceaseless in- 
trigues decided the Emperor to send a high 
commissioner with ample powers, not only to 
investigate all the charges against the captain- 
general, but also to report upon the general 
condition of affairs in New Spain. This was the 

1 This accusation, though at first adopted by Juan 
Xuarez, was afterwards dropped, nor did the Xuarez 
family in subsequent claims against the estate of Cortes 
ever make use of it. Aleman, in the fifth of his Diserta- 
ciones, observes that the circumstances under which it was 
made discredited it, and that it was neither considered 
by the second audiencia, nor did it prevent Cortes from 
forming an alliance with one of the noblest families of 
Castile. In the Pesquisa Secreta, published in the Docu- 
mentos Ineditos de Indias, may be found whatever evi- 
dence could be collected to establish this charge. Carefully 
weighed and with due consideration of the methods em- 
. ployed to elicit testimony and the character and purposes 
of his accusers, even the strongest points in the evidence 
appear, to say the least, unconvincing. 

The enemies of Cortes were at that time restrained by 
no scruples in their determination to discredit him in 
Spain and break his power in Mexico. In his letter to 
Charles V., dated October 15, 1524, he somewhat forgot 
his habitual self-control and betrayed his irritation in 
immoderate language that could hardly fail to awaken 
the monarch's distrust, but he prudently resisted every 
provocation to acts of violence that might give colour to 
the more serious accusations against him. 



41 6 Fernando Cortes 

means usually employed in such cases and did not 
necessarily constitute any indignity to Cortes, to 
whom the Emperor took occasion to write, noti- 
fying him of his decision and assuring him that 
it was in no sense prompted by suspicions 
of his loyalty or honesty, but rather to furnish 
him with the opportunity of silencing his ca- 
lumniators once for all by proving his innocence. 
Don Luis Ponce de Leon, a young man of high 
character and unusual attainments, was charged 
with this delicate mission and his appointment 
was universally applauded as an admirable one. 
He was received upon his arrival in Mexico by 
Cortes and all the authorities with every dis- 
tinction due to him, but his untimely death of 
a fever, within a few weeks after his arrival, 
defeated the good results expected from his 
labours and also furnished the enemies of Cortes 
with another accusation against him, — that of 
poisoning the royal commissioner. 

His powers devolved upon Marcos de Aguilar, 
who was not only too old for such an arduous 
post but M^as ill of a disease which, it was said, 
obliged him to take nourishment by suckling, 
for which purpose wet-nurses and she-goats 
were daily furnished him. The speedy death 
of this harmless old man started another story 
of poisoning and was followed by the supreme 
disaster of Estrada's succession to the ill- 
starred commissionership, under whom the bait- 
ing of Cortes went on apace, while the entire 
population, Spanish as well as native, groaned 

I 



Reconstruction 417 

under oppressions and vexations innumerable. 
The slave-trade was carried on shamelessly with 
nameless cruelties, chiefly by the brutal Nuiiez 
de Guzman, a partisan of Diego Velasquez, who 
had been placed by the latter's influence as 
governor of Panuco, for the express purpose of 
tormenting Cortes and fomenting cabals against 
his authority. This petty tyrant committed 
barbarities never before heard of in Mexico. 

Wearied out with persecutions and insults, 
and hopeless of obtaining justice from such 
officials as Estrada and his subordinates, Cor- 
tes decided to go to Spain and lay his own 
case before the Emperor. His decision created 
some consternation amongst his opponents, and 
Estrada realised that it was a great blunder to 
drive the captain-general to make a personal 
appeal to the sovereign. If opposition or con- 
cessions could have stopped him, Cortes would 
have relinquished his plan, for overtures were 
made through the Bishop of Tlascala, and 
promises of satisfaction were not spared; but 
his preparations were well under way and, 
though perhaps somewhat mollified by the 
changed tone of Estrada, he remained firm in 
his purpose. The news of his father's death 
reached him in Vera Cruz, where he had gone 
to embark on his homeward voyage, and, bur- 
dened with this sorrow, he sailed for the his- 
toric port of Palos, where he arrived after an 
unusually brief and prosperous passage, in the 
month of May, 1528. 



CHAPTER XVII 

CLOSING SCENES — TRIUMPHS . AND DISAPPOINT- 
MENTS — THE DEATH OF CORTES 

The Home-Coming — Dignities and Privileges — Second 
Marriage — Nuiiez de Guzman — Arrival in Vera Cruz 
— Marquisate of Oaxaca — The South Sea — Return to 
Spain — Voltaire's Legend — Death of Cortes — Burial 
of Cortes — Funeral in Mexico — Last Resting Place — 
The Palermo Legend 

CORTES had arranged that his arrival at 
the Spanish Court should be of the nature 
of a veritable pageant. Different estimates of 
the treasure he took with him are given by dif- 
ferent authorities, but these are mere matters 
of figures; the amount was fabulous, and in 
addition to this he carried a perfect museum of 
Mexican objects, such as the unique feather- 
work in which the Indians excelled, arms, 
embroideries, implements of obsidian, rare 
plants; indigenous products such as chocolate, 
tobacco, vanilla, and liquid amber; gorgeous 
parrots, herons, jaguars, and other beautiful 
birds and animals unknown in Spain, were 
carried or led by Indians, wearing the dress of 
their tribes. That nothing might be wanting, 
he took with him many skilful jugglers, acrobats, 
dwarfs, albinos, and human monstrosities, which 

418 



Closing Scenes 419 

were mucli the fashion at that time, and 
these curiosities made such a sensation that 
Charles V. could think of no fitter destina- 
tion for them than to send them on to His 
Holiness Clement VII., before whom they per- 
formed and showed themselves to the delight 
and wonder of the pontifical court. In the 
personal suite of the Conqueror, besides the 
numerous offlcials of his household, there went 
about forty Indian princes in their most gor- 
geous robes and jewels, amongst whom were the 
sons of Montezuma and of the Tlascalan chief, 
Maxixcatzin. 

The arrival of this magnificent cortege at 
Palos was unannounced, and hence no fitting re- 
ception had been prepared there, but accident 
supplied a more remarkable grouping of in- 
teresting men of the century than design could 
have provided. Within the modest walls of 
Santa Maria la Rabida, where Columbus had 
found hospitality, there met with Cortes, who 
w^as accompanied by Gonzalo de Sandoval and 
Andres de Tapia, Francisco Pizarro, whose bril- 
liant career in South America, rivalling his 
own in the North, was just dawning; and 
by a fateful coincidence, there was also in the 
suite of Cortes, the Spanish soldier, Juan de 
Rada, by whose hand Pizarro was destined to 
perish in Peru. The date of his arrival at 
Palos is given by Bernal Diaz as December, 
1527, but Herrera's authority for the later date 



420 Fernando Cortes 

has been followed by Prescott, Alaman, and 
other historians. 

The triumphal home-coming was marred at 
the very outset by the death of Gonzalo de San- 
doval at Palos, a few days after their landing. 
For none of his captains did Cortes cherish the 
affection he felt for this gallant young soldier, 
who was his fellow-townsman and loyal friend. 
Sandoval was buried at La Rabida, and Cortes 
first went on a pilgrimage to the shrine of 
Guadeloupe, where he spent some days in 
mourning his loss and having masses cele- 
brated for the departed soul. This pious duty 
accomplished, he set out for Toledo, where the 
Court then was, and, as the news of his arrival 
had spread and had also been announced by 
his own letter to the Emperor, he was every- 
where accorded a veritable triumph by the peo- 
ple, who flocked from all sides to see the hero 
of the great conquest and to gaze upon the 
marvellous trophies which he brought; so that 
since the first return of Columbus no such 
demonstrations had been seen in Spain. 

A brilliant group of nobles comprising the 
Duke of Bejar, the Counts of Aguilar and 
Medellin, the Grand Prior of St. John, and 
many of the first citizens of Toledo, rode out 
from the city to meet the conqueror on the 
plain, and the next day the Emperor received 
him with every mark of favour, raising him up 
when he would have knelt in the royal presence, 




PORTRAIT OF CORTES 
FROM A COPPER PRINT OF 1716 



Triumphs and Disappointments 421 

and seating him by Iiis side. The moment was 
an auspicious one, for influences had been at 
work in his favour. Since the appointment of 
the new commission of residencia, presided over 
by the infamous Nuiiez de Guzman, which had 
already left Spain, the Emperor's information 
as to the real state of things in Mexico, and the 
respective merits of the contending parties, had 
been much extended and perfected. He con- 
sulted Cortes during his stay at Court upon 
everything pertaining to the new realm; its re- 
sources, the natives, their customs, the Spanish 
colonists, and especially concerning the best 
means for establishing a stable government, and 
developing industries and agriculture. 

Besides full power to continue his explora- 
tions, and the confirmation of his rank of Cap- 
tain-General, the title of Marques del Valle de 
Oaxaca was conferred upon Cortes and his 
descendants, by patents dated July 6, 1529, to 
which was joined a vast grant of lands, com- 
prising twenty-eight towns and villages; one 
twelfth of all his future discoveries was to be 
his own. He received the knighthood and habit 
of Santiago, and when he was confined to his 
lodgings by illness, the Emperor visited him in 
person ; this latter being such a singular honour 
that, as Prescott caustically observes, the Span- 
ish writers of the time seemed to regard it as 
ample recompense for all he had done and 
suffered. It does not seem certain that he ac- 



422 Fernando Cortes 

cepted the knighthood of Santiago, though 
Herrera says that he had already possessed it 
since 1525. His reason for his alleged refusal 
was that no commenda was attached to the 
dignity, and Alaman ^ says that, while his name 
is on the rolls of the order, the insignia do 
not appear either in his arms or his portraits, 
nor is any mention found of his possession of 
this grade in the list of his honours. 

It is good to note that Cortes did not forget 
his friends while he was at Court, but profited 
by the Emperor's hour of graciousness to obtain 
countless favours for them, especially for the 
Indians. The Tlascalans, in recognition of their 
loyalty, were exempted for ever from taxes and 
tribute; the Cempoallans were granted a like 
exemption for a period of two years; a college 
for the sons of Mexican nobles, and another for 
girls, were endowed. Money was awarded to 
the Franciscan Order for building churches and 
schools; tithes were established to maintain the 
Bishop Zumarraga; various privileges were se- 
cured for the original " conquerors " who had 
settled in the country. Generous doweries were 
also appointed to the four daughters of Monte- 
zuma, who were being educated in a convent in 
Texcoco, as well as to the daughters of Mexican 
nobles who married Spaniards. 

During his stay in Spain, Cortes married his 
second wife Doria Juana de Zuiiiga, a daughter 

1 Dissertazione v. 



Triumphs and Disappointments 423 

of the Count of Aguilar and niece of the Duke 
of Bejar. His gifts to bis bride were of sucli 
magnificence as to arouse even the Queen's envy, 
especially the five large stones described as 
emeralds, which excelled any jewels ever seen 
and were worth a nation's ransom. There were 
no emeralds in Mexico, and these stones were y 
probably a kind of jade or serpentine of great 
brilliancy and value, which were easily con- 
founded with emeralds. One of these stones 
was cut as a bell, whose tongue was formed of 
a large pear-shaped pearl, and which bore the 
inscription henedito sea el que te crio ^; another 
was shaped like a . fish with golden eyes ; the 
third was in the form of a rose; the fourth in 
that of a trumpet; and the fifth was fashioned 
into a cup, surmounted by a superb pearl and 
standing on a base of gold, on which was the 
inscription, inter natos muUeriim non surexit 
majorr' For this last jewel alone, some Genoese 
merchants who saw it at Palos offered forty thou- 
sand ducats. The fame of these jewels was 
such that the Queen expressed a wish to have 
them, and, had not Cortes forestalled the royal 
desire by presenting them to Doiia Juana de 
Zuiiiga as a marriage gift, they would doubtless 
have passed into the crown jewels of Spain. 

In the meantime, while Cortes was being 
lionised and honoured in Spain, his enemies in 

1 " Blessed be thy maker." 

2 " Amongst men born of women no greater has arisen." 



42 4 Fernando Cortes 

Mexico were not idle, for Nunez de Guzman 
from the moment of arriving there had begun 
secretly to collect information against him 
and, by unscrupulous and inquisitorial methods, 
easily succeeded in forming a voluminous bud- 
get of accusations, among which figured the 
alleged poisoning of Luis Ponce de Leon, the 
conspiracy to establish himself as independent 
sovereign in Mexico, defrauding the royal fisc, 
and incitement of the Indians to rebel against 
the royal authority while he was absent in 
Spain. Encouraging the enemies of Cortes to 
depose against him on the one hand, Guzman 
found excuses for persecuting his friends on 
the other, even to the extent of imprisoning, 
torturing, and hanging them, on one pretext or 
another. Things reached such a pass through 
the violence of the President's conduct, that the 
Bishop, Fray Juan Zumarraga, a man whose 
exemplary life gave him great influence, and 
the Franciscan monks, sent a vigorous protest 
to Spain against Guzman and his auditors, 
praying that the former be deposed. .This peti- 
tion provoked an order from the Empress-Regent 
and the Royal Council, to take their residencia 
and that they be imprisoned if found guilty of 
the abuses imputed to them. The Bishop him- 
self was appointed, ad interim, President of the 
new audiencia, which was composed of Quiroga, 
Salmeron, and Ceynos, pending tlie arrival of 
the permanent President, Don Sebastian Ra- 



Triumphs and Disappointments 425 

mirez de Fuenleal, then Bishop of San Domingo 
and afterwards of Cuenca. 

Nuiiez de Guzman sought to evade the issue by 
organising against the Chichimecas an expedi- 
tion which he conducted with characteristic bru- 
tality. He left the city of Mexico at the head of 
five hundred Spaniards, and over two thousand 
Indians, between auxiliaries and camp servants, 
before Cortes returned from Spain. 

The powers conceded to Cortes as Captain- 
General, and for the continuation of his explora- 
tions and discoveries, were so large, and so 
ill-defined, that they could hardly fail to con- 
fiict with those of the royal audiencia, and this 
came to pass immediately after his arrival at 
Vera Cruz on July 15, 1530. The Marques, as 
he was henceforward called, was accompanied 
by his wife and his mother, and was received 
upon landing with jubilation by Spaniards and 
Indians alike, who fiocked in thousands from 
all parts to welcome him aijd to present their 
grievances for his adjustment. The new audi- 
encia was not yet constituted, and the auditors, 
Matienzo and Delgadillo, sent strict orders to 
Vera Cruz that the people assembled there to 
honour Cortes should disperse to their homes, 
while to Cortes himself, who had meanwhile 
marched amidst ovations by the way of Tlascala 
to Texcoco, they delivered a prohibition to enter 
the capital. This order was in conformity with 
the instructions given him before leaving Spain, 



426 Fernando Cortes 

so he was obliged to respect it and to establish 
himself at Texcoco until the arrival of the new 
audiencia, which took place in December of the 
same year, 1530. At the outset everything went 
well, and the new auditors rendered justice in 
several pending claims and took counsel with 
Cortes concerning affairs and the measures to be 
adopted. This promising state of things, how- 
ever, was of brief duration, and, in their letter 
of February 22, 1531, to the Emperor they made 
complaints of his pretensions and mentioned, 
among other things, that the Bishops in reading 
the prayers for the King and royal family added 
after the words cum prole regia " et duce exer- 
citus nostri/^ and that they had corrected him 
for doing so. 

Another of their letters, in August, 1532, com- 
plains of his great influence over the natives and 
of his using his powers as Captain-General to 
revenge himself on his enemies, adding, " He 
says he will resign the Captaincy General and 
return to Spain. Oh if he would only do it ! " ^ 
The auditors at other times advised that he be 
called to Spain on some pretext, — the more so 
as he wanted to go. 

The conquest finished, the Conqueror's occu- 
pation was gone. His proud spirit and active 
temperament could ill brook the checks of the 
audiencia and the limitations set to his enter- 
prises by men who neither understood nor sym- 

1 Munoz, torn. Ixxix., fol. 118. 



Triumphs and Disappointments 427 

patliised with them. At one time he retired in 
disgust from the capital, intending to devote 
himself to the administration of the affairs of his 
vast marquisate of Oaxaca. In the picturesque 
town of Cuernavaca he had built himself a hand- 
some palace and a large church, both of which 
are still standing, though in a lamentable state 
of advancing dilapidation. As a planter in Cuba 
he had already shown initiative and capacity, 
and he profited by his former experience to 
introduce successfully the sugar-cane, the silk- 
worm culture, new breeds of the merino sheep, 
and various other kinds of cattle. Mills for 
the handling of raw products were established 
in various places, and these new industries with 
which Cortes endowed Mexico have continued 
to be among her chief sources of wealth. But 
this was insufficient to occupy his restless ac- 
tivities, which, by the news of events in Peru, 
and of the rich countries discovered in the South 
Sea and along the Gulf of California, were 
constantly excited to plan fresh enterprises. In 
May, 1532, he fitted out two vessels which sailed 
from Acapulco under command of his cousin 
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, one of which, with 
the commander on board, was never heard of 
again, while the other reached Jalisco after 
many perils. The misfortunes of this expedi- 
tion began with a mutiny. 

Two years later (1534) he built two more 
vessels at Teliuantepec which he entrusted to 



428 Fernando Cortes 

Hernando Grijalba and Diego de Bezerra de 
Mendoza (a relative) respectively, with Ortun 
Jimenez as pilot. The ships got separated the 
first night out and never saw one another again. 
The one commanded by Grijalba discovered a 
deserted island called Santo Tome, somewhere 
off the point of Lower California, and returned 
thence to Tehuan tepee; the fate of the other 
was tragical, for Bezerra was murdered in his 
sleep by the pilot Jimenez, who took command, 
and, after coasting along Jalisco, landed at the 
Bay of Santa Cruz where he, with twenty Span- 
iards, was killed by the natives. The remain- 
ing sailors got back to the port of Chiametla 
where Nuiiez de Guzman, wlio was then in 
Jalisco, took possession of the vessel. 

These two fruitless ventures decided Cortes 
to take command himself, and in 1536 he sent 
three ships from Tehuantepec to the port of 
Chiametla where he joined them, marching over- 
land from Mexico. He regained possession of 
the ship which Guzman had seized from the 
sailors of Jimenez, refitted it and set out on his 
voyage, exploring the coast for some fifty leagues 
beyond Santa Cruz (or La Paz), during which 
trip he suffered innumerable hardships and lost 
many of his men from sickness. The news of 
his own death reached Mexico, and his wife sent 
two ships and a caravel to look for him iand 
bring him back. His wife's letters, together 
with others from the royal audiencia and the 



Triumphs and Disappointments 429 

Viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, urging liis 
return as very necessary, decided him to 
abandon further explorations and, after leav- 
ing Francisco de Ulloa in California, he re- 
turned to Acapulco in the early part of 1537. 

He sent three ships, the Santa Agiieda, La 
Trinidad, and the Santo Tomas, back to Fran- 
cisco de Ulloa in May of that same year, which, 
after some fruitless cruising about, returned to 
Acapulco, the whole venture having cost him 
some two hundred thousand ducats.^ A royal 
cedilla^ dated April 1, 1539, from Saragossa, 
provided for the payment of this claim, but re- 
mained ineffective.^ 

Thus the only results obtained from these 
various undertakings were debts, and he com- 
plained that he had so many that he was obliged 
to raise money, even on his wife's jewels. He 
wrote in despair to the Emperor that it was 
easier to fight the Indians than to contend with 
his Majesty's officials, and after years of litiga- 
tion, during which the royal authorities seemed 
to study how best to vex and circumvent him, 
and after the series of useless but costly ex- 
peditions in the Pacific, he started on his second 
journey to Spain, which was to be his last. 

A very different reception from the former one 
awaited him, for the Emperor was coldly civil 

1 Noticia Historica. Lorenzana Cartas de Cortes, edi- 
tion 1776. 

2 Alaman, Dissertazione v. Italian translation, 1859. 



430 Fernando Cortes 

and the Court in consequence was colder. His 
constant complaints and demands for ' satisfac- 
tion fell upon deaf or weary ears, for Court 
favours usually reckon more with present than 
with past services, and there was nothing more 
to be obtained from Cortes, who was broken 
in health and no longer young. At this time, 
too, Spain was all aflame with excitement over 
the brilliant achievements of Pizarro in Peru, 
which eclipsed the familiar exploits in Mexico 
now grown stale. 

He joined the unsuccessful expedition sent 
against Algiers in 1.541, in which the ship on 
which he and his sons Martin and Luis sailed 
was wrecked, together with eleven galleys of 
Andrea Doria. They barely escaped with their 
lives, and the Ave famous emeralds, which con- 
stituted an important item in his fortune and 
which he always carried on his person, were lost. 

The supreme slight of leaving him out of the 
council of war, summoned to consider the plan 
of the campaign, was at this time put upon him, 
and, to his boast that with his Mexican veterans 
he could take Algiers, one of the generals super- 
ciliously replied that fighting the Moors was 
different work from killing naked Indians. His 
situation became less and less worthy, and an 
anecdote, dramatically illustrating the depth to 
which he sunk, relates that after vain efforts 
to get a hearing from the Emperor, he thrust 
himself forward to the steps of the royal car- 



Triumphs and Disappointments 431 

riage where, upon perceiving him, the sovereign 
haughtily exclaimed, " And who are you? " To 
which Cortes proudly answered, " Sire, I am 
a man who has given your Majesty more pro- 
vinces than you possessed cities." What hap- 
pened next we are not told. If it were true, 
the incident would picture eloquently the de- 
gradation of the greatest captain of his age, 
forced to waylay his sovereign at his carriage 
steps like the meanest beggar. There is no 
evidence forthcoming, however, to show that 
any such dialogue was ever spoken. Those who 
have believed and repeated this story — and 
they are many — have done so on the sole au- 
thority of Voltaire, with whom it apparently 
originated.^ He does not indicate from what 
source the information reached him. The scene 
as described seems to epitomise a very tragedy 
of disappointment and humiliation, so, despite 
the staring stamp of fiction it bears, it will 
doubtless continue to pass for history when less 
dramatic facts are consigned to forgetfulness. 

The marriage arranged for his daughter with 
a son of the Marquis of Astorga was broken off, 
the bridegroom withdrawing because the full 
amount of the stipulated dowry was not forth- 
coming, and after this mortification, Cortes ob- 
tained permission to return to Mexico, travelling 
first to Seville, where he was accorded a public 
reception. His rapidly failing health made it 

1 Essai sur les Mceurs, cap. 147. 



432 Fernando Cortes 

apparent that his end was approaching, and 
prompted him to withdraw for quiet to Castel- 
leja de la Cuesta, a small town near Seville, 
where he died in the house of a magistrate, 
Juan Kodriguez, in the Calle Real, on the 2d 
of December, 1547, attended by his son Don 
Martin. 

One of the most notable things in his last will 
is the mention of his doubts about the right of 
holding slaves. He admonished his eldest son 
to look well into the question, and if it should 
be decided by competent opinion that the prac- 
tice was wrong, he must act in accordance with 
strict justice; meanwhile he must give great 
attention to the welfare and education of his 
people. He left a foundation and endowment 
fund for the hospital of Jesus (la Concepcion) 
in Mexico, and for a college and monastery at 
Coyohuacan, but the funds ran short and only 
the hospital was really established according to 
his intention. Masses were directed to be said 
at his father's tomb, and two thousand masses 
were provided for the souls of those who had 
fought with him in the conquest, a provision 
that cannot be considered in excess of their 
probable spiritual necessities. 

In his will it was also provided that his body 
should be buried wlierever he died for a period 
of ten years, at the expiration of which time 
it was to be taken to Mexico, to be there 
entombed in the monastery he had founded in 



The Death of Cortes 433 

Coyoliuacan; liis remains were consequently 
first laid to rest with fitting ceremonies in the 
family chapel of the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, 
in the Church of San Isidro at Seville. 

The following epitaph was composed by his 
son Martin: 

Padre, cuya suerte impropiamente 
Aqueste hajo mundo poseia, 
Valor que nuestra edad enriquecia 

Descansa ahora en paz, eternamente.^ 

There his body lay, until by order of his son 
Don Martin Cortes, second Marques del Valle, 
it was removed in 1562 to Mexico, but, contrary 
to the provisions in the will, the place of se- 
pulture was chosen in the monastery of St. 
Francis in Texcoco, where his mother and one 
of his daughters were already buried. 

In 1629 Don Pedro Cortes, fourth Marques 
del Valle, died in Mexico, and with his death 
the line of male descendants of Cortes came to 
an end. 

It was decided between the Viceroy, the Mar- 
ques de Serralbo, and the Archbishop of Mexico, 
D. Francisco Manso de Zufiiga, to transfer the 
body of the conqueror to the capital and bury it 
with that of his last descendant in the Church 
of St. Francis. 

An elaborate funeral procession was organ- 
ised, which set forth from the Cortes palace 

1 Andres Calvo, Los Tres Sighs de Mexico. 

28 



434 Fernando Cortes 

headed by all the religious associations and con- 
fraternities, carrying their respective banners, 
after which followed the civil tribunals. Next 
came the Archbishop accompanied by the cathe- 
dral chapter in full canonicals. The body of 
Don Pedro Cortes was exposed to view in an 
open cof&n carried by Knights of the Chapter of 
Santiago, while the cof&n of his great ancestor, 
covered with a black velvet pall, was borne by 
the royal judges, escorted by standard bearers 
carrying a white banner on which were em- 
broidered the figures of the Blessed Virgin and 
St. John ; another displaying the royal arms of 
Spain and a third of black velvet showing the 
arms of the Marques del Valle. Members of 
the university followed, and the procession 
closed with the Viceroy and all his court with 
an escort of soldiers carrying arms reversed and 
banners trailing. This funeral pageant — prob- 
ably the most magnificent ever seen in the new 
world — advanced to the accompaniment of 
muffled drums and solemn chantings, halting at 
six different places for brief religious rites. 

During more than a century and a half the 
bones of Cortes were left undisturbed, until in 
1794 they were moved once more, and this time 
to the hospital of Jesus of Nazareth, which he 
had founded and endowed and in whose chapel 
a tomb was prepared to receive the body, 
which was cof&ned in a crystal case riveted with 
silver bars. Would that this cliange had been 



The Death of Cortes 435 

the last, and that the pilgrimages of this poor 
body had ended within the walls its owner's 
piety had built. 

During the period of unrest that followed 
immediately upon the establishment of Mexican 
independence, a design w^as said to have been 
formed by some " patriots " to rifle the tomb 
and scatter the conqueror's ashes to the winds, 
of which profanation the authorities were said 
to be aware; but seem to have been either un- 
willing or unable to prevent. Others contrived 
to forestall the threatened violation, and from 
1823 the body of Cortes disappeared. Seiior 
Garcia Icacbalceta wrote to Mr. Henry Harrisse 
upon the subject saying: 

The place of the present sepulture of Cortes is 
wrapped in mystery. Don Lucas Alaman has told 
the history of the remains of this great man. With- 
out positively saying so, he lets it be understood 
that they were taken to Italy. 

It is generally believed that the bones of Cortes 
are in Palermo. But some persons insist that they 
are still in Mexico, hidden in some place absolutely 
unknown. Notwithstanding the friendship with 
which Senor Alaman has honoured me, I never could 
obtain from him a positive explanation ; he would 
always find some pretext to change the conversation. 

Senor Alaman's description of what occurred 
in 1823 is substantially as follows: 

Early in the year 1822 discussions began in 



436 Fernando Cortes 

the Mexican Congress, in which the project 
of destroying the monument in the hospital (of 
Jesus) chapel was mooted; in the month of 
August of that year, Father Mier, in the hope 
of forestalling the intended desecration, pro- 
posed that the monument should be transferred 
to the National Museum. The following year, 
1823, was marked by the transport to the capi- 
tal of the remains of the patriots who had 
proclaimed the independence of 1810, and cer- 
tain newspapers published violent articles, in- 
citing the people to celebrate this event by rifling 
the tomb of the conqueror, and burning his 
body at St. Lazaro. Fearing the execution of 
this threat, which would have left an indelible 
stain on the national honour, the Vicar-General 
directed the chaplain of the hospital to conceal 
the body in a secure place, and both Seiior 
Alaman himself and Count Fernando Lucchesi, 
who represented the Duke of Terranova's in- 
terests in Mexico at that time, assisted at the 
temporary hiding away of the remains under 
the steps of the altar. The bust and arms of 
gilded bronze were sent to the Duke of Terra- 
nova in Palermo, and the dismantled monument 
remained in the chapel until 1833, when it also 
disappeared.^ 

Thus far Seiior Alaman is as explicit as pos- 
sible, but concerning the final resting place of 

1 Alaman, Dissertazione v. Italian translation by Pelaez, 
1859. 



The Death of Cortes 43 7 

the body he says nothing whatever on his own 
account, closing the subject by introducing a 
quotation from Dr. Mora (who, he says, was 
the first to publish these facts), which states 
that " afterwards the remains were sent to his 
family." 

In the collaborated work published under the 
special direction of Don Vincente Riva Palacio, 
entitled Mexico a Trcwes los Siglos, it is stated 
in a note on page 353 of the second volume 
that the remains were sent to the Duke of Mon- 
teleone in Italy in 1823 {" fueren rimitidos a 
Italia a la casa de los Duques de Monteleone ''). 
In the chapters of the fourth volume, which 
chronicle the events of the year 1823, no men- 
tion is made of this occurrence, which it would 
surely seem was of sufficient importance to 
merit notice. 

If the remains of the conqueror were taken 
to Palermo or consigned to the family of the 
Dukes of Monteleone, there is no record of the 
transaction, nor is any tradition of it known, 
even by hearsay, to the present members of the 
family, or to the keepers of the family archives. 

Not the least of the glories of the Pignatelli 
family, which has kept its place among the fore- 
most of Sicily and Naples, is their descent from 
the Spanish conqueror of Mexico, and it seems 
inadmissible that the body of this illustrious 
ancestor should arrive at Palermo as recently 
as 1823, be buried nobody knows where, and no 



43 S Fernando Cortes 

record of any sort be kept of such an important 
and interesting event in the annals of the family. 
The absence, therefore, of any record, or even 
oral tradition, of such an event seems to be at 
least a negative proof that it never took place. 
It is quite thinkable that the custodians of the 
hospital chapel, where the body lay in 1823, 
should have invented and circulated the fiction 
of its transport out of the country to convince 
the intending desecrators that it had been put 
beyond their reach; meanwhile it was easy to 
hide the coffin in some secret place, doubtless 
within the walls of the hospital itself, where it 
may still lie in a forgotten grave. The legend 
of the transport to Italy and the burial in Pa- 
lermo being thus started and doubtless dili- 
gently spread with a purpose, encountered no 
contradiction, and, with the death of the neces- 
sarily few persons who possessed the secret, all 
knowledge of the facts was lost, while the in- 
vention passed from legend into history, and 
has been commonly accepted and quoted. 

The Eepublic of Mexico has emerged from its 
period of infancy, and has successfully survived 
tlie trials, and perilous struggles, which all new 
nations must traverse to reach the state of per- 
manent and prosperous peace, indispensable to 
national gTeatness. The four hundredth anniver- 
sary of the discovery and conquest, which looms 
in sight, will find her in the foremost ranks of 
the republics of the New World, and these great 



The Death of Cortes 439 

events will doubtless be commemorated by be- 
coming celebrations, which shall suitably revive 
the memory of the great conqueror, and his 
intrepid allies of Tlascala. If there b6 any clue 
or trace by which the body of Cortes can be 
found, it should be diligently followed up, until 
the remains are recovered and restored to the 
place of honour in the national pantheon. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE MAN 

Appearance and Habits of Cortes — Comparison with 
Caesar — His Piety — Alleged Cruelty — His Morals — 
Judgment of Slavery — Conclusion 

FERNANDO CORTES was a man of medium 
height, deep chested and slender limbed; 
his complexion was rather pale, and his expres- 
sion was serious — even sad, though the glance 
of his eyes, which in repose were impenetrable, 
could be kindly and responsive. His hair and 
beard were dark and rather scanty. 

Trained from his youth to the exercise of 
arms, he was a most dexterous swordsman, very 
light on his feet, and at home in the saddle. 

His speech was calm, nor did he ever use 
oaths or strong language, nor give way to ex- 
hibitions of temper, though a mounting flush 
and the swelling veins of his forehead betrayed 
his mastered passion, when he was vexed, while 
a characteristic gesture of annoyance or im- 
patience was the casting aside of his cloak. 

He dressed with exquisite care and great 
sobriety, eschewing any excess of ornament. 
One splendid jewel adorned his hand, a gold 
medal of the Blessed Virgin, with St. John on 
the reverse, hung from a finely wrought gold 

440 




CORTES AND HIS ARMS 

FROM VEGA'S "cORTES VALEROSO" (iSSS) 



The Man 441 

chain around his neck, and just under the 
feathers of his cap was also a gold medal ; these 
were his only ornaments. He had some know- 
ledge of Latin, and many of the psalms, hymns, 
and parts of the Church liturgy, which he knew 
by heart, he was fond of reciting. 

Though careless of his food, he was a great 
eater, but moderate in drinking and no one 
could better withstand privations than he, as 
was constantly shown on his long marches. 
His chief relaxation was games of chance, in 
which he indulged habitually, but dispassion- 
ately, making either his winnings or losses a 
subject for jokes and laughter. When strict 
laws were enacted suppressing gambling in 
Mexico, his enemies alleged that he himself 
violated the law, and that the tables and cards 
were always ready in his own house. 

The absence, or control of impulse in Cortes 
saved him from many a disaster which daring 
alone would have brought upon a leader of 
equal boldness but less wisdom, placed as he 
was. Perhaps the most supremely audacious 
act which history records is the seizure of Mon- 
tezuma in the midst of his own court, and his 
conveyance to the Spanish quarters; an under- 
taking so stupefying in its conception and so 
incredible in its execution that only the multi- 
tude and unanimity of testimony serve to re- 
move it from the sj)here of fable into that of 
history. This, however, was not an act of mere 



442 Fernando Cortes 

daring, but, as he explains to the Emperor in his 
second letter, a measure of carefully pondered 
policy. 

The strength, also, of his position invariably 
lay in the identity of his ambitions with the 
interests of the crown; he was always right. 
By no other conceivable policy could he have 
accomplished what he did. The men whom 
Velasquez, in his helpless rage, sent to super- 
sede or overthrow him, were mere playthings 
for his far-seeing statecraft and his overpower- 
ing will. The story of these events appears in 
all its wonderful simplicity and astounding 
significance, told in his own words in his 
letters to Charles V., which have been compared 
with the Commentaries of Caesar on his 
campaigns in Gaul, without suffering by the 
comparison. 

Gaul, when overrun and conquered by Julius 
Caesar, possessed no such political organisation 
as did the Aztec Empire when it was subdued 
by Cortes. There were neither cities comparable 
with Tlascala and Cholula, nor was there any 
central military organisation corresponding to 
the triple alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and 
Tlacopan, with their vast dependencies, from 
which countless hordes of warriors were drawn. 
On the other hand, while Caesar led the flower 
of the Roman legions, Cortes captained a mixed 
band of a few hundred men, ill-trained, undis- 
ciplined, indifferent to schemes of conquest and 



The Man 443 

bent only on their own individual aggrandise- 
ment; of wliom many were also disaffected 
towards the commanders and required alter- 
nate cajoling and threats to hold them in hand. 
The very men who were sent under Narvaez to 
depose him and bring him back in chains to 
Cuba, deserted their commander and remained 
in Mexico, fighting under his victorious banner. 
The mission of Cristobal de Tapia and its in- 
glorious failure illustrate the deplorable conflict 
of authorities which rendered the Spanish colo- 
nial administration of that time almost farcical. 
The confusion and uncertainty prevailing in the 
direction of colonial affairs left many loop- 
holes of escape for all who wished to disregard 
unpalatable orders. 

The foundations of a liberal and indepen- 
dent colonial administration already existed in 
Mexico, on which a stable system of govern- 
ment might have been built up, but unfortu- 
nately these principles, which were better known 
to Spaniards in that century than to any other 
continental people, were in their decadence. 
Under Charles V., began the disintegration of 
the people's liberties, which affected likewise 
the government of all the dependencies, and the 
system of rule by Viceroys and a horde of ra- 
pacious bureaucrats was initiated, which lasted 
in Latin-America until the last Spanish colony 
disappeared with the proclamation of Cuba's 
independence. 



444 Fernando Cortes 

Cortes was a man of unfeigned piety, of the 
stuff of wliicli martyrs are made; nor did his 
conviction that he was leading a holy crusade 
to win lost souls to salvation ever waver. He 
says in his Ordenanzas at Tlascala that, were 
the war carried on for any other motive than 
to overthrow idolatry and to secure the salvation 
of so many souls by converting the Indians to 
the holy faith, it would be unjust and obnoxious, 
nor would the Emperor be justified in reward- 
ing those who took part in it. 

Among other ordinances governing the moral 
and religious welfare of the people in Mexico 
after the conquest, was one which prescribed, 
under pain of stripes, attendance at the instruc- 
tions in Christian doctrine, given on Sundays 
and feast days. The Jesuit historian Cavo ^ 
says that on one occasion, when Cortes had him- 
self been absent, he was reprimanded from 
the pulpit on the following Sunday, and, to the 
stupefaction of the Indians, submitted to the 
prescribed flogging in public. He resembled 
the publican who struck his breast and invoked 
mercy for his sins, rather than the Pharisee 
who found his chief cause for thankfulness in 
the contemplation of his own superior virtues. 
Prescott was uncertain whether this submission 
to a public whipping should be attributed to 
" bigotry " or to " polic3^" It seems to have 
been first of all an act of simple consistency, 

^ Los Tres Siglos de Mexico, torn, i., p. 151. 



The Man 445 

by wliicli the commander sanctioned the law he 
had himself established. Precept is ever plenti- 
ful but example is the better teacher, and a more 
striking and unforgetable example of the equal- 
ity of all under the law, it would indeed be 
difficult to find in history. 

His religious zeal was sometimes intemperate, 
nor was it always guided by prudence, but he 
usually showed wisdom in submitting to the re- 
straining influence of some handy friar, whose 
saner and more persuasive methods promised 
surer results than his own strenuous system of 
conversion would have secured. The restraints 
the commander placed on the license of his 
soldiers might well have been prompted by his 
policy of winning the friendly confidence of the 
Indians, but his measures for repressing pro- 
fanity of every sort, gambling and other camp 
vices, and his insistence upon daily mass, prayer 
before, and thanksgivings after battle, are trace- 
able to no such motive, and it is more than 
once recorded that the Indians were profoundly 
impressed by the decorous solemnity of the 
religious ceremonies they witnessed and the 
devotion shown by the Spaniards. 

Shortcomings in the practice of the moral 
precepts of religion, either in that century or 
in this, are not confined to men who find them- 
selves cut adrift from the usual restraints of 
civilised society, isolated and paramount amidst 
barbarians, whose inferior moral standard pro- 



446 Fernando Cortes 

vides constant and easy temptations to lapse; 
and, while it were as difficult as it is unneces- 
sary to attempt a defence of the excesses which 
the Spaniards undoubtedly committed in Mex- 
ico, it is equally impossible to condemn them 
as exceptional. Prescott acquits Cortes of the 
imputation of insincerity, and declares that no 
one who reads his correspondence, or studies 
the events of his career, can doubt that he 
would have been the first to lay down his life 
for the faith. 

To the scoffing philosopher of the eighteenth 
century, these crusading buccaneers in whose 
characters the mystic and the sensualist fought 
for the mastery seemed but knaves, clumsily 
masquerading as fools. The fierce piety, which 
furnished entertainment to the age of Voltaire, 
somewhat puzzles our own. Expeditions now 
set forth into dark continents unburdened with 
professions of concern for the spiritual or 
moral welfare of the natives. Indeed, nothing 
is deemed more foolish than attempts to inter- 
fere with the religious beliefs and practices of 
barbarians, and the commander in our times 
who would overturn an idol merely to set up a 
wooden cross, thereby exposing his followers to 
the risk of being massacred, would be court- 
marti ailed and degraded, if, indeed, he ventured 
to return to civilisation. 

The accusation of cruelty, too lightly brought 
against Cortes, has been diligently propagated 



The Man 447 

by the interested and comi)lacently accepted 
by the indiscriminating, until dissent from it 
awakens incredulous surprise. Nevertheless, all 
that can be learned of his character proves that 
he was not by nature cruel, nor did he take 
wanton pleasure in the sufferings of others. 
Conciliation and coercion were both amongst 
his weapons, his natural preference being for 
the former, as is seen by his never once failing, 
in his dealings with the Indians, to exhaust 
peaceful methods before resorting to force. The 
secret of carrying on a war of conquest merci- 
fully has not yet been discovered, and recent 
reports from Afri-ca and the Philippines do not 
show much advance on the i)olicy of the Span- 
iards in Mexico four hundred years ago, though 
it cannot be pretended that our modern expedi- 
tions are attended by the perils, known, and 
most of all unknown, which awaited the igno- 
rant adventurers in the New World at every 
turn. 

There were three ends which, according to 
the ethics of Cortes, justified any measures for 
their accomplishment, 1st, the spread of the 
faith, 2d, the subjugation of the Indians to 
Spanish rule, and 3d, the possession of their 
treasures; and as the narrative of the conquest 
unfolds itself, it is seen that his resolution 
stopped at nothing for the achievement of these 
ends. But there is no instance of tortures and 
suffering being treated by him as a sport. 



44^ Fernando Cortes 

Whether he might not have accomplished all he 
did with less bloodshed, is a purely speculative 
question. Acosta ^ states that so entirely were 
the Mexicans imbued with the belief that 
the Spaniards came in fulfilment of the pro- 
phecy of their most beneficent deity, Quetzalcoatl, 
that Montezuma would have abdicated and the 
whole empire have passed into their hands with- 
out a struggle, had Cortes but comprehended 
the force of the prevailing superstition and met 
the popular expectation by rising consistently 
to his role of demigod. There are facts which 
tend to lend weight to this argument, and had 
Cortes but realised the possibilities, he might 
have been equal to the part, though his fol- 
lowers fell so lamentably short that it is doubt- 
ful if the illusion could have been long sustained. 
As it was, the awful tragedy of the Sorrowful 
Nighty and the downfall, amidst bloodshed and 
suffering unspeakable, of Mexico, was precipi- 
tated by the brutal folly of Alvarado, — not of 
Cortes.- 

In his relations with women, Cortes reveals a 
primitive, polygamous temperament. Even at 
the age of sixteen in his native Medellin, we 
find him falling from a wall and all but losing 
his life in an amorous adventure with an anony- 

1 Historia de las Indias, lib. vii., cap. xxv. 

2 One of the greatest blunders of judgment recorded of 
Cortes, is his selection of the impetuous Alvarado for 
such a delicate command. 



The Man 449 

rnous fair one, and throughout his life these 
intrigues succeeded one another unbrokenly; 
but his loves were so entirely things " of his 
life apart," that their influence upon his mo= 
tives or his actions is never discernible. He 
belonged to the type of universal lover on whom 
women exert no influence. In Cuba his role of 
Don Juan brought him into a conflict with the 
Governor, which was the origin of their life- 
long duel for supremacy in the colonies. But 
Catalina Xuarez, about whom the trouble first 
began, is quickly lost sight of; she passes like 
a pale shade across that epoch of her husband's 
existence and is never heard of again, until her 
uninvited presence in Mexico, followed quickly 
by her unlamented death, is briefly mentioned. 
The most important woman in his life was his 
Indian interpreter, Marina, and some writers 
have sought to weave a romance into the story 
of their relations, for which there seems, upon 
examination, to be little enough substantial ma- 
terial. During the period when she was indis- 
pensable to the business in hand, she was never 
separated from Cortes, but we know that he 
was not faithful to her even then, while, as soon 
as she ceased to be necessary, she was got rid 
of as easily as she had been acquired. 

Montezuma gave him his daughter, who first 
received Christian baptism to render her worthy 
of the commander's companionship and was 
known as Doiia Ana. She lived openly with 



450 Fernando Cortes 

Cortes in liis quarters, and had lier two sisters, 
Inez and Elvira with her, and a sister of the 
King of Texcoco who was called DoSa Fran- 
cisca. Dona Ana was killed during the retreat 
on the Sorrotvful Nighty and was pregnant at the 
time. A fourth daughter of the Emperor, Doiia 
Isabel, married Alonso de Grado, who shortly 
afterwards died, when she also passed into the 
household of the conqueror, to whom she bore 
a daughter.^ According to Juan Tirado, two of 
Montezuma's daughters bore sons to Cortes, and 
one bore a daughter.^ 

In his last will, Cortes mentions another 
natural daughter, whose mother was Leonor 
Pizarro, who afterwards married Juan de 
Saucedo. 

It is thus positively known that besides Ma- 
rina there were four other ladies who shared 
in his affections during this period of the 
conquest, and meanwhile his first wife Catalina 
Xuarez la Marcaida was alive in Cuba. These 
undisguised philanderings must have somewhat 
blighted Marina's romance. 

His marriage with Doiia Juana de Zuuiga 
took place when he was at the zenith of his 
fame. Tlie advantages such an alliance with a 
noble and powerful family of Castile seemed to 

1 Bernal Diaz, cap. cvii.; Bernaldino Vasquez de Tapia, 
torn, ii., pp. 244, 305-306; Gonzalo Mejia, torn, ii., pp. 
240-241. 

2 Orozco y Berra, Conqulsto de Mexico, lib. ii., cap. vi., 
note. 




ileproduced from the oris 



MAP OF THE SOUTH SEA AND THE GlILF OF CALIFORNIA 

inal found in the possession of the Marques del Valle. It shows in the upper part a city which, according to all 



accounts, was really believed at that time to ei^ist and was called Quivira. 



The Man 451 

13romise, thougli many, were pertiaps not as tan- 
gible as the ambitious conqueror had hoped. 
The marriage was negotiated before he and the 
lady had met, but it does not ap]3ear to have 
been less happy for this conformity to a cus- 
tom which at that time was universal in noble 
families. Dona Juana could have seen but little 
of her restless husband, who was perpetually 
engaged elsewhere, but she was a good wife 
and loved him, just as did Catalina Xuarez and 
all his mistresses, while his uxorious instincts 
made it easy for him to be equally happy with 
each of them. He was affectionate and tender, 
devoted to all of his children, distinguishing but 
little between his legitimate and his natural off- 
spring in a truly patriachal fashion. For the 
latter he secured Bulls of legitimacy from the 
Pope, and provided generously in his will. Not 
less strong was his filial piety, and among the 
first treasure sent to Spain, there went gifts to 
his father and mother in Medellin, and, after 
his father's death, he brought his mother to 
Mexico where she died and was buried in the 
vault at Texcoco, where his own body was 
afterwards laid. 

His undertakings subsequent to the fall of 
Mexico called for tlie exercise of qualities 
hardly less remarkable, though of a different 
order, and it was absence of productive success 
which has caused them to be overlooked in a 
world where results count for more than effort. 



452 Fernando Cortes 

It was never the policy of tlie Spanish crown 
to entrust tlie government of dependencies to 
their discoverers or conquerors, and when power- 
ful friends at court sought in 1529 to prevail 
upon Charles V. to grant Cortes supreme 
power in Mexico, under the crown, his Majesty 
was not to be persuaded; and in refusing he 
pointed out that his royal predecessors had 
never done this, even in the case of Columbus, 
or of Gonsalvo de Cordoba, the conqueror of 
Naples. Had it been possible, however, for the 
Emperor to free himself from the suspicions 
fomented by the persistent intrigues of the 
enemies of Cortes, especially from the jealous 
fear of a possible aspiration to independent 
sovereignty, it cannot be doubted that the wisest 
thing, both for Mexico and for the royal inter- 
ests, would have been the installation of Cortes 
in as independent a vice-royalty as was com- 
patible with the maintenance of the royal su- 
premacy. While Cortes, in common with all 
his kind, loved gold, he was not a mere vulgar 
plunderer, seeking to hastily enrich himself, at 
no matter what cost to the country, in order to 
retire to a life of luxury in Spain. Moreover, 
even granting that he had started with no larger 
purpose, it is plain that he was himself at the 
outset unconscious, both of his own powers and 
of the strange drama about to unfold, in which 
destiny reserved him the first part. By the 
time the conquest was completed, his know- 



The Man 453 

ledge of the possibilities of Mexico liad so 
expanded, that his views on all questions 
connected with the occupation, the government, 
and the future welfare of the country had de- 
veloped from the hazardous schemes of a 
mere adventurer into the matured policy of 
a statesman. The constantly revived accusa- 
tion of aspiring to independent sovereignty 
was a myth, for the Emperor had no more 
faithful subject than Cortes, in whom the dual 
mainsprings of action were religion and 
loyalty. 

His better judgment condemned the system of 
encomiendas and only admitted slavery as a 
form of punishment for the crime of rebellion, 
even then to be mitigated by every possible safe- 
guard. Far from driving the natives from their 
homes or wishing to deport them to the islands, 
he used every inducement to encourage them to 
remain in their towns, to rebuild their cities, 
and resume their industries, realising full well 
that the true strength of government, as well 
as the surest source of revenue, lay in a pacific 
and busy population. To this end he adopted 
the system of restoring or maintaining the na- 
tive chiefs in their jurisdiction and dignity, im- 
posing upon them the obligation of ruling their 
tribes, — and persuading those who had been 
frightened away to the mountains to return to 
their villages. The exceptions to this policy 
were in the cases of certain rebellious princes, 



454 Fernando Cortes 

whom he considered powerful enough to be 
dangerous. 

That he understood the Indians and had 
a kindly feeling for them, is proven many times 
over, while the proofs of their affection for him 
are even more numerous. Malintzin was a name 
to conjure with amongst them, and while familiar 
relations with most of the other Spaniards speed- 
ily bred contempt, their attachment to Cortes in- 
creased as time went on. The iron policy which 
used massacres, torture, and slavery for its In- 
struments of conquest did not revolt the In- 
dians, since it presented no contrast to the usage 
common among themselves in time of war; zj^ 
victis comprised the ethics of native kings who, 
in addition to wars for aggrandisement of terri- 
tory and increase of glory, also waged them 
solely to obtain victims for the sacrificial altars 
of their gods. This ghastly levy ceased with the 
introduction of Malintzin's religion, and he 
brought no hitherto unfamiliar horror as a 
substitute for it. 

Except the independent Tlascalans, all the 
other peoples of Anahuac were held in stern 
subjection by the Aztec Emperor; heavy taxes 
were collected from tliem, human life was with- 
out value, torture was in common use; their 
sons were seized for sacrifice, their daughters 
replenished the harems of the • confederated 
kings and great nobles, so that Cortes was wel- 
comed as the liberator of subject peoples, the 



The Man 455 

reclresser of wrongs. He had procured them 
the sweets of a long nourished, but despaired of, 
vengeance, and, though it was but the exchange 
of one master for another, they tasted the satis- 
faction of having squared some old scores with 
their oppressors. The conquest com^Dleted, Cor- 
tes bent all his efforts to creating systems of 
government under which the different peoples 
might live and prosper in common security, and, 
with the disappearance of the need for them, the 
harsher methods also vanished. Few of his 
cherished intentions were realised, however, and 
the power which would have enabled him to 
bring his wiser plans to fruition was denied 
him. 

The fruits of conquest are bitterness of spirit 
and disappointment, though Cortes fared better 
than his great contemi^oraries Columbus, Bal- 
boa, and Pizarro, who, after discovering con- 
tinents and oceans and subduing empires, were 
requited with chains, the scaffold, and the trai- 
tor's dagger. True, he saw himself defrauded 
of his deserts, while royal promises were found 
to be elastic; and in his last years he was even 
treated as an importunate suppliant, being ex- 
cluded from the presence of the sovereign to 
whose crown he had given an empire. 

Lesser men would have been content with the 
world-wide fame, the great title and vast estates 
to which, from modest beginnings, Cortes had 
risen in a few brief years, but a lesser man 



456 Fernando Cortes 

would never have accomplislied siicli vast un- 
dertakings, and it was liis curse that his am- 
bition kept pace with his achievements. From 
the fall of Mexico until his death, his life was 
a series of disappointments, unfulfilled am- 
bitions, and petty miseries, due to the malice 
of rivals and the faithlessness of friends, re- 
lieved only by some brief periods of splendid 
triumph, illumined by royal favour. 

In reviewing his career, the quality that most 
conspicuously shines forth and most impera- 
tively commands our unqualified admiration is 
his genius for leadership. With inadequate 
means, he undertook and successfully accom- 
plished one of the greatest military enterprises 
of which we have knowledge. If we but con- 
sider the inharmonious elements composing his 
forces, we may in some measure realise the im- 
mense and resistless power of his gift of com- 
mand over others. To the motley collection of 
gentlemen adventurers, gold-seekers, j)iratical 
sailors, and amnestied criminals who composed 
his force, he added hordes of savage allies drawn 
from tribes divided by generations of blood-feud, 
and it was over such warring elements that he 
exercised a masterful leadership in which he 
blended astute elasticity with inflexible firmness. 
Bravery, constancy, and patience are numbered 
among his virtues; an opportunist in veracity, 
he was neither more nor less unscrupulous in 
his statecraft than were the opponents whom 




ARMOUR OF CORTES 

AFTER AN ENGRAVING, FROM THE ORIGINAL IN THE MUSEUM AT MADRID 



The Man 457 

he encountered and defeated in the game of 
diplomacy. 

Great feats of arms are only accomplished 
at the cost of infinite suffering and much blood- 
shed, involving whole nations, and the fame 
of military heroes is commensurate with the 
magnitude of the devastation thej accomplish. 
It is, therefore, within the boundaries of per- 
missible evil that we must keep, in judging 
these scourges of humanity who, from time to 
time, discharge their mysterious mission amidst 
the tears and lamentations of the innocent, upon 
whom the horrors of war fall most heavily. 
Wars of invasion, however unjust in principle 
and desolating in their effects, may be waged 
by methods and for ends that compel our ulti- 
mate approval, however much our humane sen- 
timents may deplore their beginnings. 

Judged by the moral standard of his times, 
the religious and patriotic motives that swayed 
Cortes, blended though they were with personal 
ambition and greed, sanctified the end for which 
he fought; judged by the military standard of 
that age, he conducted his conquest by such 
means as the rules of warfare sanctioned. 
Greatest, by far, of all the Spanish conquerors 
v*ho baptised the New World with blood, the 
legend on his emerald cup might well serve as 
the epitaph of Fernando Cortes: 

^ Inter natos miilieriim 

Non siirrexit major. 



INDEX 



Acamapatzin VIII., the 
reign of, 47, 48 

Acolhua, the tribe of, 47 

Acolhuacan, the throne of, 
308; the capture of the 
capital of, 311 

Acolman, the dispute at, 343 

Aculhua Tecutl, the title of, 
208 

Adelantado, a royal ap- 
pointment as, 392 

Adrian, Cardinal, the re- 
gent of Spain, 333 

Aguilar, Geronimo de, a 
native of Encija, 32 

Aguilar, Marcos de, the 
death of, 416 

Ahuilizapan, the delay at, 
235 

Ahuitzotl, the human sac- 
rifices ordered by, 212; 
mentioned, 314 

Alaman, Seiior, the opinion 
of, 2, 43 

Alaminos, the pilot, 69 

Albornoces, the garment 
called, 169 

Albornoz, Rodrigo de, as 
revenue officer, 402 

Alcantara, an hidalgo of, 
271 



Alderete, Julian de, the 

royal treasurer, 321 
Altamirano, Catalina Piz- 
arro, the wife of Fer- 
nando Cortes, 41 
Alva, the Duke of, 396 
Alvarado, Alonso de, be- 
comes regidor, 86 
Alvarado, Jorge de, men- 
tioned, 359 
Alvarado, Pedro de, the cap- 
tain, 17; the expedition 
of, 86, 88 
Alvarez, Juan, the pilot, 78 
Amecameca, the arrival at, 

178 
Anacoana, the Queen of, 6 
Anahuac, the altars at, 155, 
212; the civilisation of, 
381 
Anahuacs, the nations of, 

44 ff 
Anales de Aragon, by Tor- 
res, 2 
Aniguayagua, the province 

of, 6 
Apan, the halt at, 283 
Architecture, the, of Mex- 
ico, 52 
Argensola, the genealogist, 1 
Aristotle, the belief of, 44 
Arms of Charles V., the, as 
a battle standard, 138 



459 



460 



Index 



Astorga, the Marquis of, 
mentioned, 431 

Audiencia, the, of San Do- 
mingo, 225, 333 

Avila, Alonso de, guards the 
treasure, 272; the mission 
of, 384 

Avila, Francisco de, the 
captain, 17 

Axayacatl, the Emperor, 49, 
197; the palace of, 191 

Ayachapichtla, the fight at, 
321 

Ayllon, Lucas Vasquez de, 
the power entrusted to, 
225 

Azcapozalco, the town of, 
319 

Aztec capital, the approach 
to the, 174 ff 

Aztec Empire, the extent of, 
43 ff; civilisation, 47; in- 
stitutions, 58; the weak- 
ness of the, 379 

Aztec language, the, 81 

Azua, the town of, 6 



B 



Bacallaos, the sea of cod- 
fish, 386 

Banderas River, the naming 
of the, 18 

Baoruca, the province of, 6 

Barbo, Pedro, the lieu- 
tenant-governor, 26; com- 
mand of, 296; the death 
of, 356 

Bautismo de Monteuhzoma 
II., by Remirez, 270 



Bejar, the Duke of, the 
friendship of, for Cortes, 
392, 420 

Benevente, Padre Toribio 
de, 399 

Bermudez, Beatriz, the hero- 
ism of, 365 

Berra, Orozco y, the writ- 
ings of, 35 

Boca de Terminos, the ex- 
ploration of, 33 

Botello, Bias, the astrologer, 
265 

Bournous, a variety of man- 
tle, 169 

Brass in Mexico, 191 

Brigantines, plan to con- 
struct, on Lake Texcoco, 
207; the launching of, 339 

Bull, the papal, the provi- 
sions of, 36 



Caballero, Pedro, the cap- 
tain of the port, the wiles 
of, 296 

Cacamatzin, the King, as an 
envoy, 179; the election 
of, 208; the plan of, 253 

Calle de la Feria, the house 
of Cortes in, 2 

Calpulalpan, invitation to 
Cortes to visit, 156 

Caltanmic, the lord of, 121 

Calzada de Iztapalapan, the 
road known as the, 182 

Camargo, Diego Muhoz, the 
opinion of, 270; the ex- 
pedition of, 297 



Index 



461 



Camargo, Mufioz, the his- 
torian, 154 
Cannon, the silver, 396 
Cano, Juan, estimate of the 

Spanish losses, 277 
Carbajal, Dr., deposition 

taken before, 109 
Carta de Relacion, the, of 

the magistrates, 106 
Carta de Relacion, the 2d, 

to Charles V., 298 
Casa de Contractacion, a 

complaint lodged with the, 

108 
Castellano, the value of the, 

77, 181 
Castellija de la Cuesta, Cor- 
tes at, 432 
Castillo, Bernal Diaz del, 

the account of, 6; the 

writing of, 11 
Catalina, the daughter of 

Cortes, 394 
Catapult, the trial of the, 

367 
Catholic faith, the extent of, 

in Mexico, 190 
Catoche, Cape, 30 
Catoche, the battle at, 16 
Catzolcin, the envoys sent 

to, 385 
Causeways, the admirable 

construction of the, 50, 

179 
Ceibatris, the, 36 
Celebration, the, after the 

fall of Mexico, 376 
Cempoal, the people of, 

187 
Cempoalla, the city of, 81, 

92 



Cermeno, Diego, the death 

of, 110 
Cervantes, Alonso de, the 

letter of, 221 
Ceutla, the village of, 37; 

the battle of, 38 
Chalchuich, a name given to 

Cortes, 154 
Chalco, the tribe of, 47; the 

province, 179 
Chichimeca period, the 

length of the, 47 
Chichimecas, the migrations 

of the, 47 
Chila, the lake of, 392 
Chimalhuacan-Chalco, the 

town of, 324 
Chinampus, the floating 

gardens, 179 
Chinantla, the Spaniards in, 

222 
Chirino, Pero Armildez, sent 

as revenue officer, 402 
Cholula, the city of, 157, 

159; the entry into, 160; 

the fate of, 294 
Cholula pyramid, the, 157 
Cholulan conspiracy, the, 

155 ff 
Christian religion, the sub- 
stitution of the, 380 
Churutecal, the city of, 

151 
Cihuacoathicotzin, the 

herald, 368 
Cisnero, Cardinal Ximenez 

de, 20 
Clemencin, Senor, the com- 
putations of, 76 
Coanacochtzin, the King of 

Texcoco, 310 



462 



Index 



Coatepantli, the temple wall, 
215; the wall of serpents 
at, 348 

Coatzacoalco River, the 
settlement on the, 211 

Coatzin, a strong garrison 
under, 325 

Codex Ramirez, by Berra, 
258 

Cofre del Perote, the ex- 
tinct volcano, 120 

Cohuanacox, the King of 
Texcoco, after the in- 
vasion, 408; the death of, 
411 

Colhua, the gold from, 39 

Colima, the expedition to, 
391 

Columbus, Don Diego, the 
Viceroy of the audiencia, 
6, 333 

Conquest of Mexico, by 
Prescott, 114 

Conquista de Mexico, by 
Berra, 269 

Copalco, Montezuma's body 
at, 269 

Copper in Mexico, 192 

Cordoba, Francisco Her- 
mandez de, the rich 
planter, 15; the death of, 
16; the expedition of, 68 

Cordoba, Gonzalvo de, a 
military leader, 3 

Coria, Bernaldino de, the 
conspirator, 110 

Corrol, the ensign bearer, 
356 

Cortes, Don Martin, the son 
of Fernando Cortes, 433 

Cortes, Fernando, early 



years of, 1 ff ; takes a de- 
gree of bachelor of laws, 
2, 3; receives an enco- 
mienda, 8; the marriage 
of, 12; becomes alcalde, 
14; becomes commander 
of the expedition, 21 ; the 
disobedience of, 25 ff; 
first great battle of, 40 ff ; 
hailed as liberator, 48; 
first interview of, 73; 
resigns from authority 
granted by Velasquez, 86 ; 
diplomacy of, 94; relig- 
ious sincerity of, 101; de- 
scribed as a rebel, 108; 
foils Gar ay, 118; sup- 
presses dissatisfaction 
among his troops, 147 
religious zeal of, 154 
position at Cholula, 167 
enters Mexico, 182; meets 
Montezuma, 184; the bar- 
barity of, 206; in Mexico, 
220 ff; attacks Narvaez, 
239; second march to 
Mexico, 249; the forti- 
tude of, during the Sor- 
rowful Night, 278; after 
the Sorrowful Night, 290; 
his recovery, 292 ; receives 
welcome reinforcements, 
298; breaks with his 
friend Sandoval, 320; be- 
fore Cuauhnahuac, 325 ; 
sadness of, 331; the es- 
cape of, 336; preparation 
for the siege, 339; the 
strategic ability of, 345; 
escapes death for a sec- 
ond time, 361 ; leads an 



Index 



463 



Cortes, Fernando — 

Continued 
expedition to Panuco, 391 ; 
the extravagance of, 397; 
the expedition through 
Yucatan, 403; the plot 
against, 407; the illness 
of, 413; the return of, to 
Spain, 417; receives title 
of Marques del Valle de 
Oaxaca, 421; the enemies 
of, 426; withdraws to 
Castelleja de la Cuesta, 
432; death of, De- 
cember 2, 1547, 432; ap- 
pearance and habits of, 
440 ff 

Cortes, Martin, the inter- 
vention of, 109 

Cortes, Monry y, the father 
of Fernando, 1 

Couriers, the, of Mexico, 55 

Coyohuacon, the causeway 
to, 50; the town of, 183; 
the march near, 329; 
headquarters at, 383; the 
convent in, 394 

Cozumel, the island of, 17; 
the coast at, 299 

Cronica de la Conquista, 
the, by Gomara, 10, 23, 
38 

Cruelty, the accusation of, 
brought against Cortes, 
446 

Cuauhnahuac, the town of, 
325 

Cuba, the conquest of, 
planned, 6 ff 

Cuernavaca, the present 
town of, 325, 427 



Cuetlachtla, the city of, 62 

Cuetlaxtla, the government 
of, 88 

Cuicuitzcatzin, the appoint- 
ment of, 209 

Cuitlahuac, the beautiful 
lake of, 67, 179 

Cuitlahuatzin, the libera- 
tion of, 253; becomes 
Emperor, 292 

Cuitlalpitoc, the envoy to 
Pinotl, 62, 70 

Culua, the rising at, 303 

Cuyohuacan, the ruler of, 
373 

Cuzamilco, the town of, 413 



D 



Daiguao, the Indians at, 6 
De admirandis in natura, 

by Aristotle, 44 
De Insulis nuper inventis, 

by Martyr, 42 
De originibus Americanis, 

by Horn, 44 
De Rebus Gestis, the chron- 
icle, 1 
Deities, the monstrous, of 

Mexico, 213 
Diaz, Juan, the exemption 

of, 110; left as chaplain 

in Mexico, 233 
Disertaciones, by Alaman, 

2, 44 
Doiia Ana Papantzin, see 

Papantzin 
Doria, Andrea, the eleven 

galleys of, 430 
Doiia Elvira, the grand- 



464 



Index 



Dona Elvira — Continued 
daughter of Montezuma, 
395 

Dona Juana, the mother of 
Charles V., 109 

Dona Luisa, the daughter 
of Xicotencatl, 154 

Duero, Andres de, the in- 
fluence of, 21; a mes- 
senger of Narvaez, 236; 
the plea of, 289 

Duero, Andres de, the plea 
of, 289 

Duran, Father, the report 
of, 266 

E 

El Rastro, the street of, 
182 

Embassies from Monte- 
zuma, 68 

Encomiendas, the system of, 
15, 453 

Epitaph, the, on the grave 
of Cortes, 433 

Escalante, Juan de, the 
vessel of, 31; becomes 
mayor, 86 ; mayor of Vera 
Cruz, 115; the letter to, 
147 

Escobar, the attack of, 260 

Escobar, Marina de, men- 
tioned, 395 

Escudero, Juan, the al- 
guacil, 12; the death of, 
110 

Escudero, Pedro, the arrest 
of, 87 

Essal Politique sur le Roy- 



aume de Nouvelle Es- 

pagne, by Humboldt, 43 
Estrada, Alonso de, as 

revenue officer, 402 
Estrada, Maria de, the 

heroism of, 365 
Estrada, the succession of, 

416 
Estramadura in the year 

1485, 1 



F 



Farfan, Pedro, the first to 

reach Narvaez, 240 
Fasco, the discovery of tin 

in, 390 
Fernando, King, of Spain, 

35 
Figueroa, Rodrigo de, the 

chief judge, in His- 

paniola, 24, 28, 301 
First Letter of Relation to 

Charles V., 29 
Fleet, the building of the, 

in Mexico, 336 
Flight, the disordered, from 

Mexico, 275 
Florin, Jean de, the French 

pirate, 105, 384 
Fonseca, Juan Rodriguez 

de, the Bishop of Burgos, 

108 
Fuenleal, Don Sebastian 

Ramirez de, the pro- 
motion of, 425 



G 



Gage, Thomas, the visit of, 
to Texcoco, 209 



Index 



465 



Gallego, Pedro, the capture 
of, 329 

Garay, Francisco de, the 
governor of Jamaica, 116; 
the expedition of, 118 

Garnica, the confidential 
messenger, 26 

Godnoy, Diego, as notary, 86 

Gold, the lust of, in the 
New World, 14 

Grado, Alonso del, ap- 
pointed captain of Vera 
Cruz, 207; marriage of, 
271 

Grand Cairo, the city of, 16 

Grijalba, Juan de, the com- 
mand of, 17 

Guacachula, see Quauhque- 
chollan 

Guadalupe, the shrine of, 
50 

Guajocingo, the halt at, 175 

Guaniguanico, the fleet of 
Narvaez at, 226 

Guanin, a poor sort of gold, 
17 

Guatemucin taken as a 
prisoner, 406 

Guazincango, the province 
of, 152 

Guerrero, Alonso, the es- 
cape of, 32 

Guevara, Juan de, the mis- 
sion of, 228; won over by 
Cortes, 231 

Guzman, Nunez de, the 
brutality of, 416, 421 

H 

Harrisse, Mr. Henry, the 
letter by, 435 



Hayti, the island, 14 

Helps, Sir Arthur, the de- 
scription by, 51 

Hernandez, Alonso, the 
capture of, 328 

Higuey, the province, 5, 6 

Hipolito, the Feast of San, 
372 

Hispaniola, the governor of, 
3 ; the appellate judges in, 
13 

Historia Chichimeca, by 
Ixtlilxochitl, 75 

Historia de las Indias, by 
Las Casas, 23 

Historia de Nueva Espana, 
by Sahagun, 149 

Historia de las Ordines 
Militares, by Torres, 2 

Historia de Tlaxcalla, by 
Camargo, 129 

Historia Verdadera, the, 6 

History of Chichiineca, the 
death of Montezuma de- 
scribed in the, 267 

History de los Indios, by 
Motolinia, 337 

History National y Moral 
de las Indias, 258 

History Verdad, 268 

History de Yucatan, the, by 
Cogolludo, 18 

Holguin, Garci, the cap- 
tain of a brigantine, 
371 

Honduras, the first settle- 
ment in, 400 

Hvichilohuchico, the cause- 
way of, 183 

Huehuetlapallan, the coun- 
try called, 46 



466 



Index 



Huexotzinco, see Guajo- 

cingo, 175, 294 
Hueyothlipan, the arrival 

at, 283 
Huitzilopochtli, the god of 

war, 196; see Mexitli 
Huitziton, the statue of, 

214 
Human sacrifices, 42 ff, 88 



Icacbalceta, Sefior Garcia, 

the letter of, 435 
Idols, the, overthrown, 210 
Isla de las Mugeres, the, 31 
Isla de las Sacrificios, the, 

18 
Itzli, sharp stones called, 

131 
Itzocan, the allies from, 

342 
Itztapalapan, the road to, 

50; the city of, 179; the 

destruction of, 313 
Ixchebeliax, the goddess, 16 
Ixtaccihuatl, the volcano of, 

44 
Ixtlilxochitl, Prince, the 

pretender to the throne 

of Texcoco, 78; civil war 

started by, 209 ; estimates 

by, 378 
Iztacmixcoatle, the son of, 

18 



Jamaica, the island of, 14 
Jeronymite fathers, the, 20; 
the power of, 87 



Juana, Queen Dona, of Cas- 
tile, 35 
Juez de residencia, the, 333 
Julian, the baptism of, 16 

K 

Knighthood, the first in- 
stance of, in Mexico, 300 
Kukulcan, see Quetzalcoatl 



La Corufia, the trip of the 
envoys to, 109 

Lady, the statue of our, 30 

Lagos, Cristobal de, the al- 
calde, 12 

Lara, Juan de, the capture 
of, 328 

La Rabida, the burial of 
Sandoval at, 420 

Lares, Amador de, the in- 
fluence of, 21 

Las Casas, statements by, 2 

Las Casas, Francisco de, 
the mission of, 401 

Las Casas, Fray Bartholo- 
mew de, writings of, 9, 
40 

Las Mugeres, the island of, 
16 

Las Viboras, the treach- 
erous reefs of, 32 

La Trinidad, the vessel, 17 

Lead in Mexico, 191 

Leon, Don Luis Ponce de, 
the appointment of, 415 

Leon, Juan Velasquez de, 
overcoming the scruples 



Index 



467 



Leon, Velasquez de — 

Continued 

of, 88; the departure of, 

211 
Letters of Cortes, by 

MacNutt, 114 
Lombardy, the kings of, 1 
Lopez, Martin, the chief 

carpenter of the expedi- 
tion, 300 
Lorenzana, Archbishop, the 

account of, 388 
Lorenzo, a name given the 

son of Maxixcatzin, 300 
Lugo, Francisco de, the 

loyalty of, 83 

M 

Macaguanigua River, the, 

12 
Macehuatzin, the wrath of, 

354 
Magarino, the captain, 273 
Magiscatzin, the power of 

the, 151 
Malinal, see Marina 
Malinche, see Marina 
Malintzin, see Marina 
Malintzin, a name applied 

to Cortes, 154 
Mamexi, the chieftain, 119 
Maquahuitl, Indians armed 

with, 131, 328 
Marcaida, Catalina Xuarez 

la, the beauty of, 11 
Marin, Luis, the interven- 
tion of, 343; the orders 

sent by, 373 
Marina, of Painalla, the 



slave, 40; becomes inter- 
preter for Cortes, 71; the 
great power of, 171, 190 

Marquez, Juan, the excel- 
lent work of, 307 

Martin, Benito, the work of, 
in Spain, 108, 109; the 
influence of, 223 

Martin, Juana, the heroism 
of, 365 

Martyr, Peter, at the court 
of Charles V., 42, 108 

Massacre, the, at Cholula, 
165 

Mata, Alonso de, as notary, 
235 

Matolzingo, the ruler of, 
373 

Maxixcatzin, the lord of 
Ocotelolco, 128; the 
speech of, 129; the con- 
version of, 154; still 
favors the Spaniards, 
293; becomes a Christian, 
300; the death of, 300; 
the Tlascalan chief, 419 

Maxixcatzin, Don Lorenzo, 
the son of the elder Max- 
ixcatzin, 300 

Maya, the civilisation of 
the, 45 

Mayci, the province of, 7 

Mayeques, the position of 
the, 58 

Mechoacan, the kingdom of, 
43, 385 

Medellin, the town of, Cor- 
tes born at, 1, 3, 413 

Medellin, the Count of, the 
friendship of the, for 
Cortes, 392 



468 



Index 



Medramo, a clever engineer 
named, 357 

Mejia, Gonzalo de, guard- 
ian of the treasure, 272 

Melchor, the baptism of, 16; 
the desertion of the in- 
terpreter, 36 

Melgarejo, Fray Pedro, the 
intervention of, 343 

Mendoza, Diego Hurtado de, 
cousin of Cortes, 427 

Mercedarian friar, a, men- 
tioned, 26 

Mesicalzinco, the causeway 
of, 182 

Mexi, the tribe of the, 18 

Mexia, Gonzalo, the pro- 
motion of, 86 

Mexicalcingo, the report of, 
406 

Mexicalzinco, the town of, 
183 

Mexican civilisation, the 
high perfection of, 379 

Mexican Cortes, the, see 
Quintalbor 

Mexicans, the, known as 
the Colhuas, in 1196, 47 

Mexican zodiac, the, 76 

Mexico, the conqueror of, 2; 
the empire of, 43 ff; the 
foundation of, 47; signi- 
fication of the name, 49; 
the approach to the city 
of, 179; the revolt of, 
244, 254 

Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the 
founding of, 47; the siege 
of, 343 

Mexitli, the god of war, 49 

Monarchia Indiana, the, 212 



Monjaraz, Andres de, the 
company of, 328 

Montana, the feat of, 390 

Montejo, Francisco de, the 
captain, 17; the expedi- 
tion of, 78 

Montesinos, the ballad of, 
68 

Montezuma, first reports of, 
18; the empire of, 43 ff; 
the reign of, 48; assumes 
name of Xocoyotzin, 60; 
early career, 61; the tyr- 
rany of, 127; opposition 
wavers, 158; treachery 
of, 167; the terror of, 
170; meets Cortes, 184; 
personality of, 190; taken 
prisoner, 202; the death 
of, 266 

Montezuma Ilhuicamina, the 
elder, 60 

Moquihuix, the King of 
Tlatelolco, 50 

Morejon, Rodrigo, the cap- 
ture of, 297 

Morla, Francisco de, 25 

Moron, Pedro, the death of, 
134 

Mumuztli, the invention of 
the, 367 

Municipal council, the ci*ea- 
tion of a, 389 

N 

Nahoa, the family of, 18 

Nahua, see Aztec 

Nahua culture, the centre of 

the, 208 
Narvaez, Panfilo de, the ac- 



Index 



469 



Narvaez — Continued 

tivities of, 105; at Xa- 
gua, 225; the capture and 
downfall of, 241 

Naulinco, the town of, 120 

Nauthla, a lieutenant at, 
199 

New Spain of the Ocean 
Sea, the name given 
Mexico by the Spaniards, 
299 

Nezahualeoyotl, King of 
Texcoco, 208 

Nezahualpilli, King of Tex- 
coco, 208; the palace of, 
310; the election of, 312 

Nicaragua, the expedition 
through, 412 

Nicuesa, Diego de, the ex- 
pedition of, 6 

Nino, Francisco, the pilot, 4 

Nuestra Seiiora de los Re- 
medios, the church of, 
279 

Nunez, the ingenuity of, 
109 

Nyciaca, the causeway of, 
182 



O 



Ocampo, the alluring tales 
of, 393 

Ojeda, Alonso de, the ex- 
pedition of, 6; captain of 
the rear-guard, 277; as a 
drillmaster, 307 

Olea, Cristobal de, the res- 
cue of Cortes by, 328 

Olemchs, the tribe of the, 
47 



Olid, Cristobal de, the vain 
search of, 20; the pro- 
motion of, 86; the death 
of, 401 

Olintetl, the ruler of Cal- 
tanmic, 121 

Olmedo, Fray Bartolome de, 
the Mercedarian friar, 26; 
the instructions of, 40; 
the ability of, 231 

Oquizi, the death of, 411 

Ordaz, Diego de, 25; the 
command of, 30; the ar- 
rest of, 87; exploration 
of, 171 ; at Coatzacoalis, 
244; the repulse of, 254 

Ordinances, the set of, pub- 
lished by Cortes, 398 

Orellana, Diego de, the ap- 
pearance of, 13 

Orizaba, the peak of, 119; 
the town of, 235 ; the fer- 
tile land around, 296 

Otho, Emperor, Cortes 
compared to, 383 

Ottomies, the tribe of the, 
47, 130 

Otumpa, the allies from, 
342 

Ovando, Don Nicolas de, 
the expedition of, 3 

Oviedo, the historian, 378 



Pachuca, the mountain 

chain of, 44 
Palacio, Don Vincente Riva, 

mentioned, 437 
Palacios, Beatriz de, the 
heroism of, 365 



47° 



Index 



Palenque, the town of, 46 

Palm Sunday, the first cele- 
bration of, in America, 41 

Panuco, mentioned, 297 

Papantzin, Princess, the 
sister to Montezuma, 63 

Paso de la Lena, the defile 
of, 121 

Paso del Nombre de Dios, 
defile called, 120 

Paso del Obispo, the pass 
called, 120 

Paz, Inez de, the aunt of 
Cortes, 2 

Peiiol del Marques, the 
island of, 344 

Perez, Alonzo, mentioned, 
330 

Pineda, Alonzo Alvarez de, 
the command of, 116 

Pinotl, the first envoys sent 
to, 62 

Pizarro, Francisco, the ca- 
reer of, 419 

Popocatepetl, the eruption 
of, 44, 171 

Popotla, the quarters of, 
388 

Porcallo, Vasco, the in- 
trigues of, 23 

Portillo, the death of, 356 

Puertocarrero, the mission 
of, 72 

Puerto Rico, the island of, 
14 

Puntunchan, the road from, 
187 

Q 

Quahtli, a sort of coin, 59 



Quauhpopoca, a lieutenant 
to Montezuma, 199; the 
pyre of, 205 

Quauhquechollan, the de- 
struction of the town of, 
295 

Quauhtemotzin, the son of 
Ahuitzotl, the last Aztec 
emporor, 314; the cap- 
ture of, 369, 371; death 
of, 411 

Quechola, the notary at, 
235 

Quetzalcoatl, disaster fore- 
told by, 61; the myth of, 
64 ff _ 

Quetzalli-Cohuatl, the ety- 
mological name of, 64 

Quiiiones, Antonio de, the 
duty of, 273; the com- 
mand of, 336; the mis- 
sion of, 384 

Quintalbor, the appearance 
of, 76 

Quintero, Alonso, the vessel 
of, 4 



R 



Rada, Juan de, mentioned, 
419 

Rangel, Rodrigo, the ab- 
sence of, 220 

Recherches Historiques by 
Scherer, 44 

Reinforcements, the arrival 
of, at Vera Cruz, 221 

Relacion, the, by Tapia, 38 

Relics of the dead Span- 
iards at Zoltepec, 316 



Index 



471 



Religion, the, of Mexico, 55 

Repartimientos, the system 
of, 15 

Retreat, the, from Mexico, 
274 

Ribera, Juan de, the notary 
public, 805 

Rio, Antonio del, the return 
of, 253 

Rio de Grijalba, the, 34 

Rodela, Indians armed with, 
131 

Rodriguez, Isabel, the hero- 
ism of, 365 

Rodriguez, Juan, the house 
of, 432 

Roja, Juan de, the treach- 
ery of, 108 

Rojas, Manuel de, the ef- 
fective work of, 333 

Royal Council, the mem- 
bers of, 34; for the In- 
dies, the, 108 

Rubio, Dr. Palacios, the 
jurisconsult, 34 



S 



Salamanca, the University 
of, 2 

Saucedo, Juan de, the mis- 
valour of, 281 

Salazar, Gonzalo, the re- 
port brought by, 401 

Sandoval, Gonzalo de, a 
lieutenant to Cortes, 189, 
320; sent back to the 
coast as captain of Vera 
Cruz, 207; the death of, 
420 



San Hippolito, the church 

of, 371 
San Juan de Puerta Latina, 

the occupation of, 17 
San Juan de Ulua, the 

island, 19; the arrival at, 

68 
San Lucar de Barrameda, 

the departure from, 4 
San Nicolas, Ayllon in, 226 
San Sebastian, the vessel, 17 
Santa Maria, the delay at, 

384 
Santa Maria, the vessel, 

17 
Santa Maria de la Victoria, 

the naming of the town 

of, 40 
Santestevan del Puerto, the 

founding of the town of, 

391 
Santiago, the vessel, 17 
Santiago de Compostilla, 

the departure for, 109 
Santo Domingo, arrival at, 

5 
Santo Tome, the island of, 

428 
Saucedo, Francisco de, ar- 
rival of, 104 
Saucedo, Juan de, the mis- 
sion of, 20 
Second Letter of Relation 

to Charles V., the, 56, 

123 
Segura de la Frontera, the 

founding of the town of, 

295 
Sepulture, the, of Cortes, 

the mystery of, 435 
Serpents, the wall of, 348 



472 



Index 



" Shining Mirror," the, of 

Mexico, 214 
Sierra del Agua, the cross- 
ing of the, 121 
Sierra Madre, the ascent of 

the, 119 
" Silversmiths town," the, 

319 
Simancas, the archives of, 

109 
Solar system, the, of the 

Mexicans, 57 
Sorrowful Night, the, 272 ff 
Sotelo, the inventive genius 

of, 366 
Spaniards, the difficulties 

of, in Mexico, 40 ff ; the 

great courage of, 172 
Spanish-Tlascalan alliance, 

the, 127 if 
St. Peter, the patron saint, 

2 
Storia Antica del Messico, 

the, 63, 268 



Tabasco River, the, 18 
Tabzcoob River, the, 18 
Tacatelz, a citizen of Mex- 
ico, 406 
Tacuba, see Tlacopan 
Tacuba, the causeway of, 
259; the Spaniards at, 
278 
Tamalhi, a kind of maize 

cake, 136 
Tamalli, the chieftain, 119 
Tapia, Andres de, 33 
Taranto, the siege of, by 
Hannibal, 302 



Tasaico, the city of, 305 

Tascaltecal, the assemblage 
in the province of, 304 

Tax-collectors, the, of Mon- 
tezuma, 93 

Teatro Mexicano, by Vetan- 
court, 398 

Teayotl, a place called, 267 

Tecocoltzin, Fernando, the 
death of, 317 

Tecuichpo, the daughter of 
Montezuma, 315; the con- 
sideration shown Prin- 
cess, 373 

Te Deum Laudamus, the 
singing of, 337 

Teel-Cuzam, the statue of, 
18 

Tejuele, a gold coin, 59 

Telepanquetzal, the death 
of, 411 

Temistitan, the city of, 182 

Temixtitan, the city of, 183 

Tenepal, the family name 
of, 71 

Tenoch, the descendants of, 
18 

Tenoch titlan, the develop- 
ment of, 48; the island 
of, 49 

Teocalli, the purification of 
the, 153; the fall of the. 
in Mexico, 349 

Teozahuatl, the name given 
to smallpox, by the 
Aztecs, 292 

Tepanec, the tribe of, 47 

Tepepolco, the island of, 
344 

Tepetlaxtoc, the convent at, 
399 



Index 



473 



Tepeyac, the road to, 250 
Tepeyaca, the invasion of, 

289, 293; the allies from, 

342 
Tepeyacans, the revolt of 

the, 294 
Tetepanguecal, the King of 

Tacuba, 406 
Tetzmulocan, the army goes 

through, 308 
Teuch, the chieftain, 119 
Teuhtlili, the ambassador, 

70 
Teules, a name applied to 

the Spaniards, 95 
Teutlamacazqui, the envoy 

to Pinotl, 62 
Texcoc, see Acolhua 
Texcoco, the rising hatred 

of the kingdom of, 208; 

the campaign at, 309; 

the archives of, 381 
Tezcatlipoca, the god, 196, 

214 
Tezcoco, the salt-water lake 

of, 44 
Tezozomoc, the reign of, 47 
Tierra-caliente, the 1 u x- 

uriant, 119 
Tlacatle, General, the death 

of, 411 
Tlacopan, the causeway to, 

50; the alliance with, 

208 
Tlahua, the lake of, 179 
Tlahuica, the tribes of, 325 
Tlahuichco, the tribe of, 

47 
Tlapanecatl, the bravery of, 

356 
Tlapanhuchuetl, a great 



cylindrical drum, 214, 361 
Tlapaltecatlopuchtzin, the 
bravery of, 368 

Tlascala, the tribe of, 47; 
the regents of, 123; nego- 
tiations with the city of, 
127; the triumphal entry 
into, 148; description of, 
150; the bravery of the, 
326 

Tlatelolco, the island of, 
49; the Christian baptism 
in, 64; the quarter known 
as, 191; the warriors of, 
356; the market-place of, 
357; the quarters of, 388 

Tlatelolco teocalli, the visit 
to the, 212 

Tlehuezolotzin, the proposi- 
tion of, 130 

Tlepehuacan, reinforce- 
ments at, 308 

Toledo, Dona Maria de, 
11 

Tollan, see Tula 

ToUantzinco, the founding 
of the city of, 46; the 
allies from, 342 

Toltecs, the origin of the, 
44; in the year, 554 a.d., 
46; the teachings of the, 
216 

Tonacacuahuitl, the god, 
153 

Tonaiuh, a name applied 
to Alvarado, 155 

Torquemada, the records of, 
269 

Torre de la Victoria, the 
camp of, 148 

Torres, Juan de, becomes 



474 



Index 



Torres, Juan de — Continued 
guardian of Cempoalla, 
103 

Tortilla, the, a nation of 
Tlascala, 264 

Tortugas, the towers called, 
259 

Totonacs, the nation of the, 
81 

Toxcatl, the feast of, 245 

Traditions, the conflicting 
of Mexico, 46 

Treasure, the saving of the, 
272; the lack of, 376 

Tula, the western boundary 
of Mexico, 44; the city 
of, in 667 a.d., 46, 47 

Tunas, Mexican figs, 132 

Tuscany, the kings of, 1 

Tzilacatzin, the giant war- 
rior of the Aztecs, 356 

U 

Uchilobos, the deity, 413 
Umbria, Gonzalo de, the 

punishment of, 110 
Urrea, Fray Pedro Melga- 

rejo de, the Dominican 

friar, 321; as ambassador, 

390 
Utatlan, the town of, 46 
Uxmal, the town of, 46 

V 

Valencia, Friar Martin de, 

399 
Valencia, the trip to, 4 
Valladolid, the royal letters 

from, 392 
Verela, Francisco Nunez 

de, 2 



Vehichilzi, the death of, 411 

Velasquez, Diego, a native 
of Cuellar, 6; friendship 
of, for Cortes, 8; char- 
acter of, 9 ff; appointed 
adelantado, 104; the 
power of, in Spain, 223 

Velasquez, Juan, the arrest 
of, 87 

Vendabal, Francisco Mar- 
tin, the capture of, 329 

Venezuela, the name of, 179 

Venida de los Espanoles, 
the, 378 

Vera Cruz, the founding of, 
74 ff 

Verdugo, Francisco, mayor 
of Trinidad, 25 

Veret, Louis, keeper of the 
royal jewels, 224 

Vetanzos, Friar of the Do- 
minicans, 399 

Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, 
the naming of, 86 

Villafana, the conspiracy 
of, 334 

W 

Walhalla, the, of the kings 
of antiquity, 62 

Women, the position of the, 
365 

Women's Island, the dis- 
covery of, 16 



Xaltocan, the fighting at, 

318 
Xchel, the goddess, 16 



Index 



475 



Xicalango River, the brig- 

antines on the, 412 
Xicalango, the tribe of the, 

47; the traders of, 71 
Xicotencatl, the desertion 

of, 34; the lord of Titza- 

tlan, the opinion of, 129; 

General, the task of, 130; 

the surrender of, 145; the 

reluctant admiration of, 

307 
Xihmocoatl, General, the 

death of, 411 
Xiloltepec, the allies from, 

242 
Xiocochimilco, the town of, 

120 
Xiuhtepec, the town of, 325 
Xochimilco, the tribe of, 47; 

the prosperous town of, 

327 
Xocotla, the town of, 121 
Xocoyotzin, see Montezuma 
Xoloc, the fortress of, 50, 

329 
Xolotl, the reign of, 47 
Xuarez, Catalina, the first 

wife of Cortes, 395; men- 
tioned, 449 



Xuarez, Juan, the family 
of, 11 

Y 

Yauhtepec, the march 

through, 325 
Yxtacamaxtitlan, the town 

of, 123 
Yzompachtepetl, the camp 

on the hill of, 134 



Zacatepec, the battle near, 

294 
Zacatula River, the, 44 
Zinc in Mexico, 192 
Zoltepec, the capture of, 

316 
Zoological gardens, the, 

near Mexico, 179 
Zorro, Cristobal, land 

sighted by, 5 
Zuazo, Alonzo, the mission 

of, 333; the licentiate 

letter from, 412 
Zumarraga, Fray Juan, the 

protest of, 424 
Zufiiga, Doiia Juana de, the 

second wife of Cortes, 422 



3477-6 



